Aspalathin (ASP) prevented oxidative damage by increasing the expression of Nrf2 and its down-stream target genes in diabetic mice. The relative mRNA expression of (A) Nrf2 and associated antioxidant genes, including (B) Gpx2, (C) Gss, and (D) Park7, and oxidative damage associated genes (E) Casp3 and (F) Nox4 after the six-week treatment period with metformin, and a low or high dose ASP. Results are expressed as the mean ± SEM and each treatment group contained six mice. * p ≤ 0.05, ** p ≤ 0.001 vs. untreated nondiabetic mice (db/+_UC), #
p ≤ 0.05, ##
p ≤ 0.001 vs. untreated diabetic mice (db/db_UC). db/db_MET: diabetic mice treated with metformin (150 mg/kg); db/db_ASP_LD: diabetic mice treated with aspalathin low dose (13 mg/kg); db/db_ASP_HD: diabetic mice treated with aspalathin high dose (130 mg/kg).