Effect of combination of insulin and selenium on insulin signal transduction in cardiac muscle of STZ-induced diabetic rats

This study is to investigate the effect of low doses of insulin (1 u?kg⁻¹) and selenium (180 µg?kg⁻¹)   in combination on general physiological parameters and insulin signal molecules in cardiac muscle of STZ-induced diabetic rats.  The levels of blood glucose were estimated using One Touch SureStep Blood Glucose meter.  HbA1c levels were estimated using microcolumn assay.  TG and TC were estimated using enzymatic assay.  The levels of PI3K and GLUT4 in cardiac muscle were examined by immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry.  The result showed that insulin in combination with selenium could significantly lower blood glucose and blood lipid levels and markedly restored the PI3K and GLUT4 levels in cardiac muscle.  It could be concluded that there was cooperation between insulin and selenium, and that treatment of diabetic rats with combined doses of insulin and selenium increased cardiac glucose uptake by upregulating the level of PI3K-mediated GLUT4 in cardiac muscle, eventually ameliorating myocardial dysfunction.