Abstract:
Diabetes mellitus is a global health concern that affects 425 million people worldwide and contributed to four million deaths in 2017. Hyperglycemia is the main cause of diabetes and its complications, including diabetic neuropathy and cardiovascular disease. Pathological feature of diabetic neuropathy is mainly
because of prolonged exposure to high glucose and induced oxidative stress in Schwann cells. Hyperglycemia also leads to endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis contributing to development of cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients. Melatonin, a well-known antioxidant hormone was used in
this study to investigate the protective effect of melatonin on high glucose induced Schwann cells and HUVEC apoptosis. This study revealed that melatonin promotes proliferation of Schwann cells through upregulation of GDNF, PKC and Ras/Raf/ERK pathways. Besides that, melatonin also protects Schwann cells from high glucose-induced apoptosis through modulation of
several signalling pathways including activation of anti-apoptotic (Bcl-2, NFkB, mTOR, Wnt) family proteins and inhibition of pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins. Similarly, melatonin also prevents high glucose-induced apoptosis in HUVEC through upregulation of PI3k/Akt/Bcl-2 pathway and downregulation of oxLDL/LOX-1 proteins expression. In conclusion, these findings revealed
that melatonin is beneficial to both Schwann cell and HUVEC in high glucose condition, suggesting that melatonin may combine with other diabetic drugs to prevent diabetic neuropathy and diabetic cardiovascular diseases.
