Effects of coconut water on blood sugar and retina of rats with diabetes

Yanan Dai; Li Peng; Xiaohua Zhang; Qingjing Wu; Jie Yao; Qiu Xing; Yunyan Zheng; Xiaobo Huang; Shaomei Chen; Qing Xie

doi:10.7717/peerj.10667

Effects of coconut water on blood sugar and retina of rats with diabetes

PeerJ. 2021 Jan 29:9:e10667. doi: 10.7717/peerj.10667. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Yanan Dai^#¹, Li Peng^#², Xiaohua Zhang¹, Qingjing Wu¹, Jie Yao¹, Qiu Xing¹, Yunyan Zheng¹, Xiaobo Huang¹, Shaomei Chen¹, Qing Xie¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine Affiliated Haikou Hospital, Haikou, Hainan, P.R. China, Haikou, China.
² Department of Ophthalmology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, Changsha, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of coconut water on the general condition (fasting blood sugar and body weight) and retina of diabetic rats.

Methods: Forty-eight Sprague-Dawley male rats were divided into normal controls (NC), diabetes mellitus (DM), diabetes+coconut water (DM+CW), and diabetes+glibenclamide (DM+Gli) groups. After 4 weeks of normal feeding, coconut water was given to group III-DM+CW and 0.6 mg/kg glibenclamide to group IV-DM+Gli. The blood sugar, body weight, total retinal thickness, pathological changes, and VEGF expression in the retina were analyzed at different time points.

Results: The fasting blood sugar was 4-6 mmol/L in group I-NC and continuously increased in group II-DM, whereas gradually decreased after the 4th experiment week in the remaining two groups. The rats, except in group I-NC, have lost weight. In group II-DM, the total retinal thickness was significantly increased after the 8th and 12th experiment week, and the pathological changes in retina were observed. VEGF was almost fully expressed in the ganglion cell layer and inner granular layer and partially expressed in the outer granular layer in group II-DM, and mainly expressed in the ganglion cell layer and inner layer in group I-NC, with a lighter color. Group III-DM + CW and group IV-DM + Gli demonstrated similar VEGF expression as in group I-NC.

Conclusions: Coconut water has the potential to reduce blood sugar and diabetic retinal damage, serving as a candidate drug or nutrient for treating diabetes and its complications.

Keywords: Coconut water; Diabetic rats; Diabetic retinopathy; Hypoglycemia; Vascular endothelial growth factor.

Grants and funding

This study is supported by the Key R & D Program of Hainan Province in 2017 (grant number ZDYF2018235). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.