Abstract
Lannea edulis (Sond.) Engl. commonly known as wild grape is used traditionally for the treatment of diabetes. It is only found in Eastern and Southern Africa. Phytochemical screening, antihyperglycemic and antihyperlipidemic effects of aqueous extracts of L. edulis in alloxan induced diabetic rats were carried out. We report herein the findings of this research work. Lannea edulis crude aqueous extracts were obtained by hot infusion and evaporation method. Phytochemical screening was carried out and subsequently toxicity studies of the aqueous extracts were performed to establish the Lethal Dose 50 (LD50) in albino rats. Alloxan monohydrate was used to induce diabetes in the rats. Lannea edulis positive control group doses of 100, 300, and 500 mg/kg were administered to 3 groups for 14 days. The positive control group was administered 5 mg/kg of glibenclamide. The negative and normal control groups were administered distilled water. To determine fasting blood glucose, blood was drawn on days 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, and 14 while it was drawn on days 0 and 14 for the determination of lipids. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of flavonoids, saponins, tannins, cardiac glycosides, alkaloids and steroids. L. edulis diabetic positive control groups showed significant (P < 0.05) dose dependent reductions in fasting blood glucose levels. When day 0 mean blood glucose levels were compared to day 3 mean blood glucose levels of their respective groups, the 300 mg/kg L. edulis group showed a 23.3% drop and the 500 mg/kg L. edulis group showed a 52.6% drop. The 100 mg/kg L. edulis diabetic positive control group showed a 25.1% drop by day 5, the day on which it showed statistical significance (P < 0.05) compared to the diabetic control. In addition, administration of aqueous extracts of L. edulis to diabetic rats for 14 days significantly decreased (P < 0.05) the levels of serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) and Very Low Density Lipoprotein (VLDL) whilst increasing the levels of High Density Lipoprotein (HDL), when compared to the diabetic control group. It was concluded that L. edulis showed significant and dose dependent antihyperglycemic and antihyperlipidemic effects thus confirming its traditional use.
Highlights
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by hyperglycemia (Dipiro et al, 2008)
There are two main types of DM: Type 1 which is characterized by an absolute deficiency of insulin as a result of autoimmune destruction of pancreatic B cells (Dipiro et al, 2008) and Type 2 is accompanied by both insulin resistance and insulin secretion
Comparison of day 3 mean blood glucose levels with their respective day 0 mean blood glucose levels showed a 15.5% drop in the positive control group, 23.3% drop in the 300 mg/kg L. edulis diabetic positive control group and a 52.6% drop in the 500 mg/kg L. edulis diabetic positive control group (Figure 2)
Summary
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by hyperglycemia (Dipiro et al, 2008) It develops as a result of defects in insulin secretion, insulin action or both (Rang et al, 2014). The chronic increase in blood glucose levels results in microvascular and macrovascular complications, which are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality associated with DM (Johansen et al, 2005). One such complication is hyperlipidemia, which is characterized by elevated levels of cholesterol, triglycerides and changes in lipoproteins (Rajaei et al, 2015)
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