Publication Details
Abstract
Diabetes is one of the well-known and chronic diseases caused by the lack of insulin production or its non-use by cells, and the most famous types of diabetes are type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and several treatments and programmes have been used to prevent it. In recent years, researchers have turned their thoughts to the field of nanotechnology and its use as an antidiabetic, so their concern was to find a safe, easy and inexpensive way to manufacture nanoparticles using plant extracts. The biosynthesis of nanoparticles using plant extracts was the best method, so The aim of the study was to compare the effect of metformin and biosynthesised zinc oxide nanoparticles on liver tissue and some enzymes in male alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Zinc oxide nanoparticles were made from Eruca vesicaria leaf extract and after observing the colour change, the nanoparticles were sent for confirmation and the required tests were performed including spectrophotometric (UV-Vis), X-ray fluorescence and transmission electron microscopy. The efficacy of zinc nanoparticles was studied and compared to metformin using 35 male albino rats that were induced to diabetes by alloxan and the rats were dosed for one month after which chemical tests of liver enzymes) Aspartate transaminase, Alanine transaminase) and histological sections of the liver were performed. The findings showed that Eruca vesicaria extract can be used to create ZnO nanoparticles. Results from a UV/Vis spectrophotometer indicated that it had an absorbance at 377 nm, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (X-Ray) revealed eight absorption peaks and a crystalline size of 31.21 nm, and Transmission Electron Microscopy revealed that ZnO NPs were 54 nm in size and nearly spherical in shape. The results of measuring the liver enzymes aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) and comparing them between the treatments showed that there were significant differences between the treatments as it was found that alloxan treatment significantly increased the level of enzymes compared to the control. The results also showed that zinc nanoparticles reduced the level of liver enzymes after treatment with alloxan, which proves the effectiveness of zinc nanoparticles and metformin drug was also found to reduce the level of liver enzymes and the results of histological examinations showed. The results of our study found that plant extracts are effective in synthesising ZnO nanoparticles and that it is an easy, safe, environmentally friendly and inexpensive method. The study also found that biosynthesised ZnO nanoparticles can be used as an antidiabetic compared to metformin as ZnO nanoparticles showed protection of liver tissue and improvement in liver enzyme concentrations.