An Investigation on the Therapeutic Effect of Thymosin β4 and Its Expression Levels in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Mice

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

<P>Thymosin <I>β</I>4 (T<I>β</I>4) treatment was known to show the potential therapeutic effects on diabetic complications. This study was performed to determine if T<I>β</I>4 expression is changed in both serum and tissues under diabetic conditions and can be a serum biomarker. Type 1 diabetic mice were induced in C57/BL6J mice by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) at a dose of 50 mg/kg body weight. The mice were sacrificed at 16 weeks after STZ injection. Tissues and plasmas were obtained to determine the expression levels of T<I>β</I>4 using ELISA, real time RT-PCR, and immunohistochemistry. The average serum glucose level was increased to approximately 400 mg/dL beginning 2 weeks after the five injections of STZ and lasting for at least 13 weeks until sacrifice. The plasma and tissue levels of T<I>β</I>4 in the age-matched control mice were not significantly different from those of the diabetic mice. In conclusion, the T<I>β</I>4 expression level in the plasmas and tissues of diabetic mice was not affected by diabetic conditions. It indirectly suggests that the therapeutic effect of T<I>β</I>4 on diabetic complications is due to its regenerative effects on damaged tissue but not to the changed expression level of T<I>β</I>4 in plasma and tissues of diabetes.</P>