The effect of methanolic extract of Avocado seed on volume and number of hepatocytes in type II diabetic mice

Objectives: Type II diabetes is a metabolic disorder that can gradually cause damage to the structure and function of many organs such as the liver. It was reported that aqueous extract from the avocado s seed has hypoglycemic agents, which act protecting against toxicity and oxidative stress and stimulate pancreatic β-cells to secrete more insulin.Materials Methods: In this study, 40 adult male mice were divided into 8 groups including: control, diabetic, 3 sham and 3 treatment groups. Diabetes type 2 was induced by high fat diet and low dose of streptozotocin. One week after streptozotocin injection, sham and treatment groups received 50, 100 and 150 mg/kg methanolic extract of avocado seed for 40 consecutive days via oral gavage. Finally, animals sacrificed by cervical dislocation and liver were removed and fixed in buffered formalin 10%. Tissue samples was obtained based on uniform systematic random strategy from serial paraffin sections and stained by H E. Total volume and number of hepatocyte were estimated by optical dissector and stereo investigator system using an unbiased counting frame and Cavalieri s principle. One-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey post hoc performed for data analysis.Results Conclusion: Results indicated that methanolic extract of avocado seed increased total number and volume of hepatocytes in normal mice in a dose-dependent manner. Stereological studies showed that diabetes significantly decreased number of hepatocyte whereas increased total volume of hepatocytes. Data revealed that dose of 50 mg/kg increased total volume of hepatocyte but dose of 100 and 150 reduced it compared to diabetic mice significantly (p 0.05). Administration of extract also increased total number of hepatocyte and could improve it in a normal level. Based on our results it can be concluded that administration of methanolic extract of Avocado seed has a suitable hepatoporotective effect against liver structural damage in diabetes.