Studies on guaran as hypoglycemic agent

ABSTRACT

The polysaccharide guaran isolated and purified from the seeds of Cyamopsis tetragonoloba, L. leguminosae was proved to possess a potent antidiabetic effect. This study tried to investigate the mechanism of action of guaran as an antidiabetic agent and its relation to blood glucose of rats. In this study, fasted diabetic rats were given oral glucose, and at maximum level of glucose absorption, guaran was administered and blood glucose levels were determined at different hours' intervals. The results revealed that maximum blood glucose level started to decrease significantly after 3.5 hours. While when fasted diabetic rats were given guaran without oral glucose administration no significant effect on blood glucose level was noticed at different hours' intervals. Also, no reduction of blood glucose level was observed when guaran was given to normal rats maintained on their ordinary diet, the last result proved the safety of guaran on normal non-diabetics