Effect of propolis extract as natural substance on lowering blood sugar and cholesterol level in hyperglycaemic rats

ABSTRACT

The present work was conducted to study the effect of propolis extract on lowering blood sugar and cholesterol level in alloxan diabetic rats. Various nutritional and biochemical parameters were estimated. Propolis extract was added to the diet of rats at three levels [0.25%, 0.5% and 1.0%] for 4 weeks. The obtained results indicated that the addition of propolis extract to the diet of rats produced a positive effect on body weight gain [BWG] and feed efficiency ratio [FER]. The values of cholesterol, triglycerides [TG] and very low-density lipoprotein- cholesterol [VLDL-c] significantly increased for positive control [+] compared with negative control [-], but HDL-c was significantly lower. Addition of propolis extract resulted in a significant reduction in cholesterol, TC, VLDL-c, aspartate amino transferase [AST] and alanine amino transferase [ALT] except the 0.25% propolis group for AST. The percentage decrease in cholesterol value was from about 45.9% to 64.7%, while percentage increase in HDL value was from about 37.5 to 91.3%. Glucose level in control [+] was 311.5 +/- 75.3 1 mg/dl vs 128.5 +/- 26.13 mg/dl for control [-]