Abstract—Type 1 Diabetes mellitus (T1DM) or insulin deficiencies lead to the development of diabetic cardiovascular complications, due to the imbalance between oxidative stress and anti-oxidants. The present descriptive study focusedon the effect of Momordica charantia (MC) fruit extract in the cardiovascular tissue of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. A total of 30 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were used and equally divided into five groups (n=6); Control group (Ctrl), control group treated with MC (Ctrl + MC), DM untreated group (DM), DM group treated with MC (DM + MC) and DM group treated with metformin 150g/kg (DM + Met). Diabetes was induced in rats by a single intramuscular injection of streptozotocin (STZ) 60mg/kg of body weight. MC fruit extract 1.5g/kg was used for this study. Following four weeks of STZ induction, the treatment was started and continued for 28 days. At the end of the study, the rats were sacrificed; cardiac and aortic tissues were harvested for electron microscopic study. Improved ultrastructural damages of both tissues were observed in DM + MC group. In conclusion, oral administration of MC fruit extract improved subcellular changes in cardiovascular tissues of diabetic rats.

Index Terms—type 1 diabetes mellitus, Momordica charantia, cardiovascular tissue, electron microscope

Cite: Razif Abas, Srijit Das, and Zar Chi Thent, "Momordica Charantia Fruit Extract Improvesubcellular Changes in Cardiovascular Tissues of Diabetic Rats," Journal of Medical and Bioengineering, Vol. 4, No. 5, pp. 357-362, October 2015. Doi: 10.12720/jomb.4.5.357-362