Abstract
Background: Blood glucose is controlled by a pancreatic hormone, insulin, so any altered functions of pancreas are associated with disturbances in blood glucose level. Erythropoietin (EPO) is glycoprotein produced mainly by the kidney as a result of reduced intracellular oxygen. This study was designed to investigate the effect of EPO on blood glucose level in normal and streptozocin-induced diabetic rats.
Materials and methods: Eighty mature rats were used in this study animals and randomly divided into 4 different isolated groups (n = 20); Group I was administered with normal saline and act as a control group. Animals were injected with streptozocin (STZ; 30 mg/kg, ip) to induce diabetes, and animals were treated with saline (Group II) or EPO (300 iu//kg, ip Group III) or insulin (3 iu//kg, s.c., group IV) respectively, for three successive weeks. STZ-induced diabetes was indicated by hyperglycemia. Further, Results: Three weeks after EPO treatment, there was enhanced blood glucose level associated with enhanced glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity tests (P