Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2023, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (1): 361-370.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2023.01.033

• CLINICAL VETERINARY MEDICINE • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effect of N-acetyl-L-cysteine on Oxidative Damage of Lens Epithelium in Beagle Dogs with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

ZHOU Shuilian1, BAI Yuman1, XIE Wenting2, HUANG Jianjia1, QIU Wenyue1, PANG Xiaoyue1, ZHANG Xinting1, TANG Zhaoxin1, SU Rongsheng1*   

  1. 1. College of Veterinary Medicine, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China;
    2. Guangzhou Medical Research Institute Co. LTD, Guangzhou 510642, China
  • Received:2022-06-12 Online:2023-01-23 Published:2023-01-17

Abstract: This study aimed to investigate the effect of N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) on oxidative damage of lens epithelium in the beagle model of type 1 diabetes mellitus. Forty beagles, 2-3 years old, were randomly divided into control group (CON group), diabetes model group (DM group), insulin treatment group (INS group), NAC combined with insulin treatment group (NAC+INS group) and NAC treatment group (NAC group), 8 dogs in each group. The establishment of experimental dog model in each treatment group lasted for 120 days. Before and after modeling, insulin release test, fasting blood glucose and aqueous humor glucose were tested and cataract grade evaluation was carried out by slit lamp. The lens epithelium was histopathologically observed, and ELISA and RT-PCR detected the oxidative stress index and inflammatory factors in the lens. The results of insulin release test and fasting blood glucose showed that the model of type 1 diabetes beagle was established successfully; Compared with CON group, at the end of the experiment, the serum and aqueous glucose of DM group increased significantly (P<0.05), and the lens function decreased significantly; Slit-lamp results showed that the lens opacity of the DM group reached grade IV at the end of the experiment, while the other four groups showed no apparent signs of cortical opacity; In addition, obvious pathological changes such as nuclear pyknosis and necrotic bodies were observed in the lens epithelium of DM group; Blood glucose in NAC, INS and NAC+INS groups showed a downward trend,but was still higher than that in CON group; The blood glucose in NAC+INS group was significantly lower than that in DM group (P<0.05); and the lens opacity was also significantly improved; At the end of the experiment, compared with CON group,in the canine crystal epithelium and aqueous fluid, MDA content of DM group increased (P<0.05 or P<0.01), while GSH-Px activity and GSH/GSSG all had the noteworthy decrease (P<0.05 or P<0.01), GR activity decreased (P>0.05 in crystal epithelium; P<0.01 in aqueous fluid); After treatment of NAC combined with insulin, oxidative stress markers in crystal epithelium showed an opposite trend. The expression levels of SOD2 and GR in DM group and all treatment groups were significantly increased (P<0.05). In conclusion, therapy of NAC combined with insulin has improvement for glycemic control and lens function in diabetic dogs, the protective effect of NAC combined with insulin on lens epithelial injury in diabetic dogs may be related to the inhibition of oxidative stress of the lens.

Key words: canine type 1 diabetes mellitus, diabetic cataract, lens epithelial cells, oxidative stress, N-acetyl-L-cysteine

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