The role of hesperidin in ameliorating retinal changes in rats with experimentally induced type 1 diabetes mellitus and the active role of vascular endothelial growth factor and glial fibrillary acidic protein.

Patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (TDM) are vulnerable to developing diabetic retinopathy even under insulin therapy. Thus, this study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of hesperidin and insulin in rats with TDM compared with insulin alone in improving diabetic retinal changes. Eighty rats were divided into four equal groups: group I, control rats without diabetes; group II, untreated rats with diabetes; group III, rats with diabetes treated daily with subcutaneous (SC) doses of long-acting insulin; and group IV, a rat with diabetes in which hesperidin was orally administered with SC insulin.