Journal of

Background and Aim: Diabetes is a metabolic disorder, in which either there is no sufficient insulin in the body or the available insulin is not capable of acting properly. Defining the effects of trace elements can help to make use of these elements in control or preventing diabetes.

Materials and Methods: Forty-eight Wistar male rats were equally divided into eight groups. Three different control groups and five test groups. Test groups was treated with streptozotocin (60 mg/kg intraperitonieal) to induce diabetes, then supplemented with specific trace elements: Zinc, Chromium, Magnesium, Manganese and Copper. After one week, glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol levels in serum of all groups were assayed with routine methods. Then mentioned trace elements were gavaged to each groups with proper dosages. Gavage was performed during 3 weeks, then the blood tests were repeated. Median values were taken, the results were analyzed by SPSS software and p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: Levels of glucose in the serum of experimental group were found to be significantly higher than in the control group (p=0.0009). Oral administration of trace elements for 23 days exhibited a significant reduction of serum glucose (P=0.0009) and cholesterol level (p=0.019) in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats but not in control groups.

Conclusion: The present study indicated that treatment of diabetic rats with some trace elements to attenuate hyperglycemia until reaching the normal range. Between different trace elements which were used, Cr is suggested for its great ability in decreasing the glucose, cholesterol with no effect on triglyceride levels as compared with normal rats.