Ursolic Acid Increases Sirt1 Protein Level and Β-Cells Number in Diabetic Rats

Introduction: ursolic acid (ua) is a triterpenoid compound which widely found in the apple’s peel. it has wide health-promoting properties; as previous studies properly indicated to its abilities. in this scenario our attention has been paid to the application of ua as an anti-diabetic compound. based on our recent studies in relating to sirt1 protein/gene and ua, the aim of this research was to evaluate ua effects on the sirt1 expression in diabetic rat’s pancreas. methods: in this study we used 20 male diabetic wistar rats. to develop diabetic rats, they received 30mg/kg of streptozotocin for 2 days sequentially. then, they classified to 2 groups, the ones received ua + corn oil twice daily for two weeks and others (the control group) just received corn oil. results: our findings obviously showed that ua enhanced sirt1 (4±0.2 folds) proteins levels in pancreas (p<0.001), in comparison with control rats. in addition, the findings showed that ua significantly decreased fasting blood glucose from 416.17±12 mg/dl to 149.75±11 mg/dl. moreover, we found that ua increased β-cell numbers and islet langerhans diameters (~2 folds). conclusion: our results provide valuable information not only into the mechanisms underlying β-cells protection but also into the regulation of sirt1 as a main target to attenuate β-cells damage. therefore, ua is a promising pharmacological therapeutic target for β-cell regeneration through enhancing of sirt1 over-expression.