Abstract

ANTI-DIABETIC, ANTI-HYPERLIPIDEMIC AND ANTI-OXIDANT POTENTIAL OF ETHANOLIC STERCULIA GUTTATA BARK EXTRACT (ESG) ON STZ INDUCED RATS

Dhaliya Salam A.*, Preeja G. Pillai and Senthilkumar D.

ABSTRACT

Context: Diabetes mellitus is a serious metabolic disorder regarded as one of the world’s top five major causes of death. Till now, no satisfactory therapeutic treatment for diabetes mellitus has been discovered in modern medicine. Plant products are being studied for analyzing the potential to cure diabetes and several medicinal plants remain unexplored. Objective: The present study concentrates on evaluating the anti-hyperglycaemic activity of the ethanolic Sterculia guttata extracts (ESG), and this is considered to be the first report using animal models. Methods: Hyperglycaemia in rats was induced by streptozotocin (STZ). Different concentrations of the bark extracts (200mg/kg and 400mg/kg) were utilised to investigate their anti-hyperglycaemic activity. In addition, anti-hyperlipidemic and anti-oxidant activities were also examined in STZ-induced animal models. Results: ESG has effectively showed no toxic reactions and reduced the blood and urine glucose levels. Recovery of body weight was observed. ESG also showed hepatoprotective and nephroprotective activity by downregulating the liver and kidney marker enzymes. ESG enhanced the antioxidant enzymes, muscle and liver glycogen level. ESG effectively reduced glycosylated hemoglobin. Histopathological studies reveal the tissue damage in spleen, kidney, liver and pancreas on STZ induced diabetic rats and ESG treatment could help in tissue recovery. Increased dosage (400mg/kg) had higher activity on compared with standard drug (glibenclamide). Conclusion: From the study, it is observed that ESG has evident anti-hyperglycaemic activity and ESG can be utilized for the development of plant based therapeutics for treatment of diabetes.

Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Sterculia guttata extracts, anti-hyperglycemic activity, anti-hyperlipidemic activity, anti-oxidant activity, animal models.