Cold atmospheric plasma treatment: a novel method for diabetes mellitus therapy; a basic study

We investigate the effect of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) therapy on diabetes in the streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rat model. In all, 30 male Wistar rats were distributed into three experimental groups: healthy, diabetic, and diabetic receiving plasma treatment. The two diabetic groups were injected with STZ to induce diabetes. Plasma treatment was performed by exposure of rats to argon plasma jet for 600 s twice a week, for 4 weeks. The results showed that the cold plasma course of therapy greatly downregulated the oxidative stress and secretion of inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, the results revealed that the glucose level of the diabetic rats decreased significantly after treatments in comparison to the diabetic control groups. Also, a decrease in advanced glycation end-product (AGE) content was achieved after therapy. The results of the study showed that cold plasma has a therapeutic effect on diabetic rats and can be considered as a noninvasive method for therapy of diabetes.