Investigating the changes of the components of the Krebs cycle in patients with type 2 diabetes treated with squalene

Abstract

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that impairs the body’s ability to regulate glucose. Recent studies have shown that squalene, a bioactive compound, has shown promising potential in increasing ATP levels for diabetic patients and aged individuals.Objective: Our main goal was to evaluate the cellular effects of different doses of squalene on the intermediates and enzymes of Krebs cycle, in order to determine if squalene increases ATP production among groups of people with type 2 diabetes. The intermediates and enzymes that are being studied are acetyl coenzyme (A-CoA), alpha ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (AKGDH), calcium ion (Ca2+), citrate synthase (CS), isocitrate dehydrogenase, oxaloacetate, and pyruvate dehydrogenase complex component (PDH).Methods: In this study, 30 healthy volunteers were selected as the healthy control group (group 1) and 120 volunteers with type 2 diabetes mellitus were selected. Subjects with diabetes were randomly divided into 4 groups. Group 2 was untreated with squalene and groups 3, 4, and 5 were treated with 200, 400 and 600 mg of squalene, respectively for 84 days. Intermediates and enzymes of the Krebs cycle as well as calcium ion were assayed on days 1, 14, 28, 56, and 84 according to the relevant protocols in all groups.Results: The squalene-treated diabetic groups were compared to group 2 that was not treated any squalene to determine the differences of the parameters. Throughout these 84 days, it was observed that only calcium levels increased in the diabetic patients with high statistical difference (P < 0.05). The other parameters: acetyl coenzyme, alpha ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, citrate synthase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, oxaloacetate, and pyruvate dehydrogenase did not have a significant difference (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, the addition of various doses of squalene to a diabetic patient's diet increases the amount of calcium found in their metabolic process in relation to the Krebs cycle. As calcium is responsible for stimulating the Krebs Cycle, it is evident that squalene plays an important part in ATP production.Keywords: squalene, type 2 diabetes, Krebs cycle, calcium, ATP