comparative evaluation of medicinal plants for their hypoglycaemic activity in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

ABSTRACT

In the present study, the hypoglycaemic effect of alcoholic extracts of Momordica charantia, Aegle marmelos, and Eugenia jambolana was studied in Streptozotocin [STZ]- induced diabetes. Rats were made diabetic using intraperitoneal injection of STZ [30 mg/kg] in citrate buffer. On confirmation of diabetes after 48 hrs of injection, alcoholic extract of medicinal plant [250 or 500 kg] or glibenclamide [300 micro g/kg] administrated orally to rats for 30 days. These three plants produced dose and duration dependent hypglycaemia very similar to that of glibenclamide. At the end of one month, serum glucose levels of STZ diabetic rats with daily doses of 500 mg/kg of any one of the alcoholic extract were 'more or less' comparable to that of normal rats. The anti-diabetic effect of these plants might be due to enhanced insulin secretion from the viable beta-cells of islets of Langerhans as evidenced by presence of more viable beta-cells and less necrotic changes in the pancreas of diabetic rats as compared to that of control diabetic rats. Thus, these plants appear to be better alternative for the diabetic patients who are prone to develop side effects with the regular use of synthetic hypoglycaemic drugs as these plants are devoid of any untoward/toxic effects