Liver and skeletal muscle ceramides in alloxan-induced diabetes

Aim. To study of liver and sceletal muscle ceramides in alloxan-induced diabetes at different periods after alloxan exposure.Methods. Repeated experiments were performed on white male rats. Diabetes was modeled by alloxan hydrochloride solution intraperitoneal injection. The disease development was monitored using clinical and laboratory parameters. Ceramides in tissues were determined in intact animals (control), at the 10, 20, 30, 45 and 60 day after the alloxan injection. Ceramides level in the plates was determined by thin layer chromatography using the external standard.Results. In intact animals, ceramides level in liver was twice as high as in muscle. At all terms after alloxan injection, ceramide level was significantly higher compared to controls, and was in muscle compared to liver, with similar change pattern. Up to the 20th day, a significant increase of ceramide level was observed compared to control (eightfold in liver and sevenfold in muscle). By 30th day, a partial recovery was registered, followed by subsequent increase of ceramide level. This indicates the influence of compensation mechanisms in the early stages of the experiment with further decompensation on late stages.Conclusion. In alloxan-induced type 1 diabetes, ceramide level in insulin-dependent tissues depends on the term after the alloxan injection; the findings are of great importance for the research of secondary insulin resistance, as well as other diabetes-associated pathological conditions, exact mechanisms.