ABSTRACT
Background: Cocos nucifera, belonging to Arecaceae family, holds quite an importance in the Indiantraditional medicinal system. C. nucifera inflorescence (CnI) has been reported in the literature to beuseful in the treatment of diarrhoea, dysentery, diabetes, and dyspepsia. In this study, we aimed toevaluate the efficacy of CnI as an adjuvant with metformin in ameliorating Type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2-DM).Objectives: To evaluate antidiabetic activity of CnI in combination with metformin in Streptozotocin (STZ)induced diabetic rats.Materials and methods: Diabetes was induced in male Wistar rats using streptozotocin (45 mg/kg; i.p.).Plasma glucose level (PGL) was estimated after 72 h of STZ injection. Ethanolic extract of CnI (250 mg/kgand 500 mg/kg) per se and in combination with metformin (22.5 mg/kg) was administered orally oncedaily to rats for a period of 28 days. PGL level was estimated on 7th, 14th and 21st day followed by OralGlucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) and PGL both on the 28th day of treatment. DPPH assay was performed toevaluate antioxidant activity of CnI extract.Results: Extract of CnI (250 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg alone and the combination of extract (250 mg/kg)along with metformin (22.5 mg/kg) significantly decreased PGL (p < 0.0001) on 7th, 14th, 21st and 28thdays. Histopathological analysis of pancreatic tissue showed that treatment with CnI extract per se and incombination with metformin improved the damaged architecture of pancreas.Conclusion: The combination therapy of CnI and metformin produced a significant antidiabetic effectthan that of the extract alone and provides a scientific rationale for their use in antidiabetic therapy as anadjuvant.© 2017 Transdisciplinary University, Bangalore and World Ayurveda Foundation. Publishing Services byElsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
ABSTRACT
Background: The prevalence of mental depression has increased in recent years, and has become a serious health problem in most countries of the world, including India. Due to the high cost of antidepressant synthetic drugs and their accompanying side effects, the discovery of safer antidepressant herbal remedies is on the rise. Moringa oleifera (MO) (drumstick) has been used in traditional folk medicine, and in Ayurveda, it is considered as a valuable remedy for treating nervous system disorders as well as memory enhancing agent. Objective: The present study was designed to evaluate the acute and chronic behavioral and antidepressant effects of alcoholic extracts of MO leaves in standardized mouse models of depression. Materials and Methods: Alcoholic extracts of MO (MOE) leaves were prepared, and phytoconstituents were determined using appropriate chemical analytical methods. Following preliminary dose‑finding toxicity studies, the biological activity of MOE was tested in Swiss albino mice. Animals were divided into six groups: Groups 1 and 2 served as vehicle control and fluoxetine (20 mg/kg) standard control, respectively. Groups 3 and 4 served as treatment groups and were orally administered ethanolic MOE at doses of 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg, respectively. Groups 5 and 6, respectively, received combination doses of MOE 100 mg/kg + 10 mg fluoxetine, and MOE 200 mg/kg + 10 mg/kg fluoxetine. Following acute and 14 days chronic treatments, all animals were tested using behavioral models of depression, such as forced swim test (FST), tail suspension test (TST), and locomotor activity test (LAT). Results: Significant changes in all tested activities (FST, TST, LAT) of chronically dosed mice were observed, especially in animals given simultaneously combined doses of 200 mg/kg/day MOE + 10 mg/kg/day fluoxetine for 14 days. The antidepressant effect of MOE may have been invoked through the noradrenergic‑serotonergic neurotransmission pathway, which is the hallmark of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) class of drugs. Conclusion: The results obtained in this study suggest that combined administration of MOE with low doses of fluoxetine or other SSRI drugs seems to have promising potential.