Purpose: Prostatic complications are common among diabetic patients. Previous research demonstrates that Teucrium polium (T. polium) has beneficial effects in diabetic cases. This study, therefore, aimed to evaluate the impacts of T. polium aqueous extract on the prostate of diabetic rats.
Methods: Diabetes was induced in male Wistar rats by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (50 mg/kg). a total of 40 Rats were randomly divided into the following groups: Control, Control + TP100 (TP100), Diabetic, Diabetic + TP100 (DTP100) and Diabetic + TP200 (DTP200). The intervention was done orally once per day for 56 days (8 weeks). An oral glucose tolerance test was conducted, glucose and insulin levels were assessed. Microscopic features of the ventral prostatic lobe were evaluated pathologically.
Results: T. polium at both doses significantly reduced glucose levels in an insulin-independent pathway. T. polium at both doses significantly improved prostate weight, prostate epithelium height, and prostate secretory activity in comparison with the diabetic group. Interestingly, treatment of T. polium to healthy rats led to decreased epithelial height.
Conclusion: It could be deduced that T. polium has useful impacts on glucose control and may prevent prostatic complications.
Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40200-022-00979-4.
Keywords: Diabetic rat; Plasma insulin level; Prostate histopathology; Teucrium polium.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2022.