Metformin pretreatment suppresses alterations to the articular cartilage ultrastructure and knee joint tissue damage secondary to type 2 diabetes mellitus in rats.

Metformin pretreatment suppresses alterations to the articular cartilage ultrastructure and knee joint tissue damage secondary to type 2 diabetes mellitus in rats. Ultrastruct Pathol. 2020 May 14;:1-10 Authors: Dawood AF, Alzamil N, Ebrahim HA, Abdel Kader DH, Kamar SS, Haidara MA, Al-Ani B Abstract Osteoarthritis (OA) secondary to diabetes affects millions of people worldwide and can lead to disability. The protective effect of metformin pretreatment against alterations to the articular cartilage ultrastructure induced by type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) associated with the inhibition of oxidative stress and inflammation has not been investigated before. Therefore, we induced T2DM in rats (the model group) using high carbohydrate and fat diet and a single injection of streptozotocin (50 mg/kg body weight). The protective group of rats started metformin (200 mg/kg body weight) treatment 14 days before diabetic induction and continued on metformin until the end of the experiment at week 12. Harvested tissues obtained from knee joints were prepared for staining with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), safranin o staining, and electron microscopy. Histology images showed that OA was developed in the T2DM rats as demonstrated by a substantial damage to the articular cartilage and profound chondrocyte and territorial matrix ultrastructural alterations, which were partially protected by metformin. In addition, metformin significantly (p <Â...
Source: Ultrastructural Pathology - Category: Pathology Authors: Tags: Ultrastruct Pathol Source Type: research