Effects of Juglans Regia Leaves Ethanolic Extract on Changes of Spinal Cord Lumbo-Sacral Region in Diabetic Rats Fetus

Nervous system is one of the organs that suffer from the side-effects of diabetes. This study investigated the effect of Juglans regia ethanolic leafextract on lumbo-sacral spinal cord in 18 and 20 days old fetus of diabetic mother rats. A total of 16 Sprague Dawley female rats became diabetic by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (50 mg/kg). The animals were randomly divided into four groups. Rats in all groups became pregnant by natural mating. In their first day of pregnancy، they received walnut leaf extract at a dose of 250 mg/ kg. After formation of the nervous system، two fetuses were obtained after anesthezing animals on 18th and 20th gestational days. The animals were euthanized، their birth weight were recorded and the lumbo-sacral spinal cord samples were taken and fixed. Tissue sections were prepared by routine procedures and different histological parameters were examined. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA. Significant decrease in the transverse diameter، vertical diameter، and the number of neurons in the spinal cord gray matter of the spinal cord at days 18 and 20 of pregnancy in the diabetic group compared to other groups was observed (p ≤ 0. 05) and a significant difference in the number of neurons in the spinal cord white matter was observed on day 18 of pregnancy (p≤0. 05). This study confirmed the ameliorative effects of ethanolic extract of walnut leaves in controlling the metabolic disorders in diabetic pregnancy on the fetus''s central nervous system.