Background & Aims: Previous studies demonstrated that immunomodulation maybe a helpful approach for treatment of diabetes type 1. L-glutamine, a non toxic inducer of heat shock proteins (HSP), has immunomodulatory effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of this drug on the level of fasting blood sugar and pancreases lesions in male C57BL/6 diabetic mice.

Materials & Methods: Diabetes was induced in male C57BL/6 mice. Mice randomly allocated in 4 groups (N=5) (positive control, pre induction treatment, post induction treatment, normal group). Seven days after final streptozotocin (STZ) induced dosage, blood sample collected from mice and evaluated for fasting blood sugar by automatic Glucometer. In addition, 14 days after final STZ induced dosage, mice were euthanized and pancreases were collected and stained with H&E. The slides were evaluated for leukocytic infiltration, edema, congestion, degeneration and ticknessing of blood vessels in pancreatic langerhans islets. For statistical analysis, we used one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Scheffe test, SPSS 19 (for pathological data), and Tukey’ test for other data.

Results: Mice that received L-glutamine showed significantly decreased levels of fasting blood sugar (199 for preinduction group and 218 for post induction) and histopathological lesions of pancreases (p<0.05).

Conclusion: L-glutamine has an effective role in treatment of diabetes type1 and maybe used in new future for treatment of human diabetes type1.