ABSTRACT
Introduction: Althaea officinalis is listed among potential anti-diabetic herbal medicines. This study aimed to investigate the effect of the alcoholic extract of Althaea officinalis root on lowering blood sugar and lipid profiles in the treatment of type I diabetes
Materials and Methods: Seventy male Wistar rats were divided into 7 groups [n=10 each] as follows: Non-diabetic control, sham receiving normal saline [NS], and the diabetic control groups, which received extract of Althaea officinalis at doses of 200, 400, 800 mg/kg body weight respectively through gastric gavage and glibenclamide 5 mg/kg, for a period of 4 weeks. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin [STZ] [60 mg/kg body weight]
Results: The hydroalcoholic extract of Althaea officinalis significantly decreased blood glucose levels [P<0.05] in diabetic rats treated, at all doses [200, 400, 800 mg/kg]. Significant improvement was also observed in dyslipidemia [p<0.05], caused by diabetes mellitus, as confirmed by reduced levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL and significantly elevated levels of HDL. Fasting blood glucose levels of glibenclamide treated rats 200 mg/kg doses of the extract were significantly lower than those in the diabetic control group [P<0.05]. However levels of fasting blood glucose in the group treated with 400, 800 mg/kg doses of the extract had no significant difference, as compared to the group treated with glibenclamide [P<0.05]
Conclusion: Results of this study discovered significant hypolipidemic and hypoglycemic effects for the extract of Althaea officinalis in Wistar rats