Anti-Diabetic and Toxicological Studies of Carica papaya Leaves Extract

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus, a chronic non-communicable disease is ranked 7th killer disease in the world. With the current prevalence rate in the country, the number of people living with diabetes mellitus in Nigeria will increase to 4.8 million by the year 2030. The research aimed at evaluating LD50 and antidiabetic of solvents (Aqueous, Ethyl acetate, Chloroform and Hexane) leaves extracts of Carica papaya in alloxan induced diabetic rats as well as characterization of most active extract. Twenty rats were used for acute toxicity studies, while thirty-five rats were used for the second phase of the study in which solvents extract of the leave were screened for hypoglycaemic activities. Forty rats were used for the third phase of the research to screen the column chromatography fractions obtained from the most active solvent extract. Acute toxicity studies showed all extracts to be practically non-toxic with oral LD50 greater than 5000mg/kg. Second phase of the research observed that chloroform extract possesses the highest activity among the four extracts, while fraction II was shown to possess the highest activity from the column chromatography fractions. The fraction was also found to ameliorate liver damage as a result of diabetes. Conclusively, leaves extract of Carica papaya was found to lower fasting blood glucose of alloxan induced diabetes rat, the plant was also found to be non-toxic up to a dose of 5000mg/kg.