Antidiabetic and Antidyslipidemic Effects of Artemisia mesatlantica, an Endemic Plant from Morocco.

Abstract

The study aimed to assess the antihyperglycemic and antidyslipidemic activities of Artemisia mesatlantica. Artemisia mesatlantica is an endemic plant of Morocco used in traditional medicine as an alternative treatment for diabetes. The study was designed to examine the antihyperglycemic and antidyslipidemicability of aqueous extract of Artemisia mesatlantica (AMAE) in experimental animal models. The effect of the single and repeated oral administration (7 days of treatment) of AMAE (60 mg/kg) on blood glucose and lipid profile were assessed in normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Furthermore, to confirm the antidyslipidemic effect of Artemisia mesatlantica, a model of hyperlipidemia induced by tyloxapol (Triton WR-1339) in rats was used. The AMAE (60 mg/kg) was able to significantly reduce glycaemia, improve lipid profile and increase hepatic glycogen content in STZ-induced diabetic rats. In addition, pretreatment of rats for 7 consecutive days with an aqueous extract of Artemisia mesatlantica (600 mg/kg) prior to tyloxapol injection prevented increases in plasma levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL-c. From these observed results, it can be deduced that Artemisia mesatlantica possesses remarkable antidiabetic and antihyperlipidemic properties.