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©The Author(s) 2026. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Diabetes. Feb 15, 2026; 17(2): 113992
Published online Feb 15, 2026. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v17.i2.113992
Published online Feb 15, 2026. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v17.i2.113992
Neuroprotective potential of a plant-based intervention in diabetic neuropathy: Biochemical and behavioral insights from a streptozotocin-induced rat model
Mohd Adnan Kausar, Sadaf Anwar, Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, Hail 53962, Saudi Arabia
Kehkashan Parveen, Suhel Parvez, Department of Medical Elementology and Toxicology, School of Chemical and Life Sciences, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi 110062, Delhi, India
Kehkashan Parveen, Waseem Ahmad Siddiqui, Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Unit, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202002, Uttar Pradesh, India
Yusuf Saleem Khan, Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, Hail 53962, Saudi Arabia
Ayman A Saleh, Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, Hail 53962, Saudi Arabia
Mai Ali Abdelfattah Ahmed, Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, Hail 53962, Saudi Arabia
Author contributions: Kausar MA and Anwar S did conceptualization; Parveen K and Saleh AA contributed to methodology; Parvez S, Parveen K, Ahmed MAA, and Siddiqui WA did validation; Ahmed MAA contributed to formal analysis; Parveen K and Khan YS contributed to data curation; Parveen K and Kausar MA contributed to original draft preparation; Parvez S, Saleh AA, Siddiqui WA, and Khan YS did review and editing; Parveen K and Anwar S contributed to visualization; Parvez S, Siddiqui WA, and Kausar MA contributed to supervision; Anwar S and Kausar MA contributed to project administration; Kausar MA contributed to funding acquisition; Parvez S and Siddiqui WA contributed to resources. All authors have read and approved the submitted version.
Supported by Scientific Research Deanship at University of Ha’il, Saudi Arabia, No. RG-24082.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All experimental procedures involving animals were approved by the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee of Jamia Hamdard, No. 86/1871.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Data sharing statement: All data supporting the findings of this study are included within the main text and Supplementary material of the article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Mohd Adnan Kausar, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, University City-Hail, Al Khitah Street, Hail 53962, Saudi Arabia. ma.kausar@uoh.edu.sa
Received: September 10, 2025
Revised: October 19, 2025
Accepted: December 26, 2025
Published online: February 15, 2026
Processing time: 149 Days and 14 Hours
Revised: October 19, 2025
Accepted: December 26, 2025
Published online: February 15, 2026
Processing time: 149 Days and 14 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Diabetic neuropathy represents the primary complication of diabetes, characterized by oxidative stress, inflammation, and impaired neurotrophic signaling. In streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, a polyherbal extract derived from Curcuma longa, Myristica fragrans, and Citrullus colocynthis significantly enhanced metabolic parameters, improved lipid profile and promoted antioxidant defense, and neurobehavioral outcomes. It reversed behavioral impairments and histological damage by lowering hyperglycemia, raising insulin levels, and reducing neuroinflammation and oxidative stress. These findings demonstrate the neuroprotective qualities of polyherbal extract and encourage more research into plant-based remedies for diabetic neuropathy.