Research Article Protective Effects of the Mushroom Lactarius deterrimus Extract on Systemic Oxidative Stress and Pancreatic Islets in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

Copyright © 2015 Mirjana Mihailovic ́ et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The aim of this study was to assess the in vivo effects of the extract of the medicinal mushroom, Lactarius deterrimus, when administered (60mg/kg, i.p.) daily for four weeks to streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced diabetic rats. Diabetic rats treated with the L. deterrimus extract displayed several improved biochemical parameters in the circulation: reduced hyperglycemia, lower triglyceride concentration and reduced glycated hemoglobin, glycated serum protein, and advanced glycation end product (AGE) levels. This treatment also adjusted the diabetes-induced redox imbalance. Thus, higher activities of the antioxidative enzymes, superoxide dismutase, and catalase in the circulation were accompanied by increased levels of free intracellular thiols and glutathionylated proteins after treatment with the L. deterrimus extract. In addition to a systemic antioxidant effect, the administration of the extract to diabetic rats also had a positive localized effect on pancreatic islets where it decreased AGE formation, and increased the expression of chemokine CXCL12 protein that mediates the restoration o