Anti-diabetic effect of moringa oleifera extract on parotid gland of albino rats

Aim: to investigate the antidiabetic effect of moringa oleifera on parotid gland.
Materials and methods: 45 adult male albino rats weighing from 150-200 gm were used in this study. The rats were divided into three equal groups (15 rats each) as follow: Group I: The animals served as control group. Group II: The animals subjected to diabetic induction and did not receive any treatment. Group III: The animals subjected to diabetic induction, soon after blood analysis, animals of this group were given 200 mg/kg body wt. /day of moringa oleifera extract by gastric tube for 3 weeks. At the end of the moringa treatment, the rats were euthanized with over dose halothane and parotid glands were rapidly excised, then processed for: histological examination using heamatoxylin and eosin stain, transmission electron microscope and comet assay.
Results: the examination with light microscope showed group I with normal architecture of the glandular tissue, the parotid gland sections showing densely packed acinar cells with large basally located nuclei while in group II parotid gland sections showed loss of acinar outlines with intracellular vacuolization and pyknotic nuclei. In-group III the acinar cells begin to regain their symmetrical shape and size. Ultrastructurely the serous cell of group I showed euchromatic nuclei, parallel cisternae rough endoplasmic reticulum, homogenous secretory granules and intact desmosomal attachments between cells. The serous cell of group II showing irregular nuclear membrane with predominant heterochromatin, dilated and irregular arrangements of rough endoplasmic reticulum and multiple vacuoles. In-group III the serous acini appeared with less number of vacuoles and numerous parallel cisternae of rough endoplasmic reticulum. The Comet assay results: In the control parotid glands, the majority of the cells appeared as homologous discs with a very low tail moment, very low percentage of tail length and tail DNA %. In group II tail formation was different from the normal gland cells in the number of tailed cells and the tail length. In group III the tail moment was found to be significantly decreased than that found in the group II.
Conclusion: These results help to increase information about the usefulness of M. oleifera and its safety.