Abstract
Olive tree (Olea europaea L.) leaves have been widely used in traditional therapies in European and Mediterranean countries as extracts, herbal teas, and powder. They contain numerous potentially bioactive compounds that may have hypoglycemic properties. Glycation of serum proteins may effectively increase the available free iron pool in blood serum. This excess iron has been involved in the pathogenesis of diabetes and its complications. Twenty-four adult Wistar rats were divided into four groups; (normal control), diabetic control (45 mg/kg STZ), normal rats treated with olive leaf extract (17.8 mg OLE/kg b.wt.), and diabetic rats treated with olive leaf extract (45 mg/kg STZ+ 17.8 mg OLE/kg b.wt.). Olive leaf extract was orally administrated for 10 weeks. The levels of serum iron, total iron binding capacity, ferritin, transferrin, hemoglobin, glycated hemoglobin and glycated albumin were analyzed at zero time and after 10 weeks. Results showed that olive leaf extract significantly (P < 0.05) kept serum iron, total iron binding capacity in the normal range, and improved the ferritin, transferrin, glycated hemoglobin and glycated albumin levels to make them less than the diabetic group levels. The present study suggests that olive leaf extract exerts strong beneficial effects on iron profile in diabetes and maintains protein glycation.