Ultrastructural evaluation of the effects of cinnamon on the nervus ischiadicus in diabetic rats

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of oral cinnamon supplementation on the nervus ischiadicus at the electron microscopical level in rats.

METHODS: This study was performed between 2004-2006 in Dicle University School of Medicine, Diyarbakir, Turkey in 15 adult Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were divided into 3 groups; control (C) (n=5), diabetic without cinnamon (D) (n=5), and diabetic with cinnamon (D-C) (n=5). Diabetes was induced with intraperitoneal alloxan administration. All diabetic rats were treated with human insulin. All rats were fed with standard pellet chow. The D-C group rats were fed with standard pellet chow plus Cinnamomum cassia at the dose of 400mg/kg. All rats were sacrificed after 3 months and we obtained the nervus ischiadicus of all rats. Contrast stained thin sections evaluated by Jeol-TEM-1010 electron microscope, were not statistically different in both groups and photo samples were obtained.

RESULTS: Mean blood glucose, hemoglobin A1C, and lipid profile were not statistically different in both groups. Marked detachment of myelin lamellae at Schmidt-Lanterman clefts, lysis in cristae mitochondrialis and degenerative changes, severe dispersion of organelles in neurolemma, mesoaxon region, and remarkable edema at the endoneurium were found in diabetic rats. On the contrary, mesoaxon, nucleus, nucleolus and myelin sheet were almost of normal appearance at the ultra-structural level in the D-C group.

CONCLUSION: Cinnamon extracts may have beneficial effects on the development of diabetic neuropathy in alloxan induced diabetic rats.