RESUMO
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder and increasing evidences have indicated a connection between DM and hepatic abnormality. Deep-sea water (DSW) has been applied in many fields, especially in medicine; herein, we investigated the influence of DSW on hepatic apoptosis in streptozocin (STZ)-induced diabetes rats. Our experimental results firstly demonstrated the beneficial effects of 1×DSW, 2×DSW and 3×DSW in alleviating hepatic apoptosis in STZ-induced diabetic rats. We demonstrated that 1×DSW, 2×DSW and 3×DSW significantly suppressed the caspase-3 activity and TUNEL-positive cells in livers of STZ-induced diabetic rats. Significant reductions of both Fas-dependent and mitochondrial-dependent apoptotic molecules were also detected in livers of STZ-induced diabetic rats receiving DSW. Additionally, apoptotic signaling molecules such as phosphorylated IκB-α and NF-κB were significantly reduced in livers of DSW-treated STZ-induced diabetic rats. These findings indicate hepatic protective effects of DSW on DM and suggest DSW as a possible ingredient for health food.