article · PLoS ONE
Diabetes causes oxidative stress that worsens behavioural disorders and testicular damage. This research examined whether extract from Graviola, a tree of the Annonaceae family, could counter these complications in diabetic rats. Male rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes displayed depression-like behaviours, diminished memory performance, decreased locomotor and exploratory activities, and heightened stress indicators. Daily oral treatment with Graviola for four weeks reversed all of these behavioural impairments. Graviola also enhanced testicular antioxidant defences by restoring glutathione and superoxide dismutase levels that had declined during diabetes. Additionally, it reduced the expression of inflammatory and apoptotic genes in the testes while increasing testosterone and estradiol concentrations via elevated acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase 2 expression. The results indicate that Graviola alleviates behavioural changes and protects testicular tissue through hypoglycaemic and antioxidative mechanisms in animal models.
Diabetes frequently causes severe secondary complications, including mood disturbances, cognitive impairment, and reproductive organ damage driven by oxidative stress. Identifying natural compounds that mitigate both neurological and testicular injuries helps uncover biological mechanisms of protection. This offers a scientific basis for developing interventions that address debilitating complications associated with chronic metabolic disease.
This work points towards potential applications in botanical therapeutics or nutraceuticals designed to protect against diabetic complications, particularly reproductive dysfunction and cognitive or mood decline. The research remains at an early stage, having only been demonstrated in a rodent model. Any commercial or clinical application will require extensive validation, as human clinical studies are explicitly needed to establish whether these protective effects occur in patients.
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Oxidative stresses intensify the progression of diabetes-related behavioural changes and testicular injuries. Graviola (Annona muricata), a small tree of the Annonaceae family, has been investigated for its protective effects against diabetic complications, oxidative stress, and neuropathies. This study was planned to investigate the effects of graviola on behavioural alterations and testicular oxidative status of streptozotocin (STZ; 65 mg/kg)-induced diabetic rats. Forty adult male Wistar rats were equally allocated into four groups: control (received normal saline 8 ml/kg orally once daily), diabetic (received normal saline orally once daily), graviola (GR; received 100 mg/kg/day; orally once daily), and diabetic with graviola (Diabetic+GR; received 100 mg/kg/day; once daily). Behavioural functions were assessed using standard behavioural paradigms. Also, oxidative statuses of testis were evaluated. Results of behavioural observations showed that diabetes induced depression-like behaviours, reduction of exploratory and locomotor activities, decreased memory performance, and increased stress-linked behaviours. These variations in diabetic rats were happened due to oxidative stress. Interestingly, treatment of diabetic rats with graviola for four weeks alleviated all behavioural changes due to diabetes. Also, rats in graviola-treated groups had greater testicular testosterone and estradiol levels compared with diabetic rats due to significant rise in testicular acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase 2 expression. In the same context, graviola enhanced the antioxidant status of testicular tissues by significantly restoring the testicular glutathione and total superoxide dismutase that fell during diabetes. In addition, Graviola significantly decreased the expression of apoptotic (Bax) and inflammatory (interleukin-1β) testicular genes. In conclusion, these data propose that both the hypoglycemic and antioxidative potential of graviola are possible mechanisms that improve behavioural alterations and protect testis in diabetic animals. Concomitantly, further clinical studies in human are required to validate the current study.
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DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222410
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