Background and Objective: Diabetes as one of the most prevalent and chronic diseases is dramatically increasing worldwide and Iran is no exception. Diabetes mellitus with oxidative stress and overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) can cause metabolic disorders and deactivate the antioxidant defense. Palmatine hydrochloride has anti-diabetic and antioxidant effects among its various pharmacological effects. This study was done to prevent diabetes-induced oxidative stress.

Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 32 male wistar rats were randomly allocated to 4 groups of control, palmatine-treated non-diabetic, diabetic, and palmatine-treated-diabetic. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin (STZ) intraperitoneal injection (55mg/kg). Palmatine hydrochloride was administered S.C at the doses of 10 mg/kg/day 1 week after STZ injection for a period of 6 weeks. Blood samples were taken from the tail vein 1,3,5 and 7 weeks after STZ injection to measure blood glucose levels. After the end of the experiment, blood samples were taken from the heart of the mice and glucose, insulin, lipid peroxidation (MDA) nitrite levels and superoxide dismutase activity were evaluated as biomarkers of oxidative stress. Data were analyzed using Prism-5, one-way ANOVA and Tukey tests.

Results: The results revealed that diabetes increases the level of glucose, malondialdehyde, and nitrites while reduces insulin and superoxide dismutase activity in the diabetic mice compared to the control group. Improvement of oxidative stress was evident in palmatine hydrochloride administered diabetic rats.

Conclusion: This study showed that palmatine treatment can reduce blood sugar and oxidative stress in STZ induced diabetic rats.