Determination of hypoglycemic activity of the herbal mixtures in screening study

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is an important social and medical problem, as it causes the development of dangerous complications that lead to disability and mortality. This disease is characterized by a multi-vector pathogenesis that requires a comprehensive approach to treatment. Due to the using of medicinal plantsmixtures in the treatment of diabetes, it is possible to cover many aspects of the development of this disease and its complications.The aim of the study was to evaluate the hypoglycemic activity of some herbal mixtures and to establish their conditionally therapeutic doses on normoglycemic rats by glucose load tests.The study was performed on male albino rats weighing 180–200 g, which for preventive treatment during 20 days orally received aqueous extracts (1:10) of the studied herbal mixtures at a dose 6 mL/kg/day, 9 mL/kg/day and 12 mL/kg/day and comparison drugs – the official herbal mixtures «Arfazetin» at adose 9 mL/kg/day and metformin tablets at a dose 60 mg/kg/day. The study of hypoglycemic properties and the establishment of a conditional therapeutic doses was carried out using glucose loading tests (OGTT and IPGTT). All experiments were performed in accordance with general ethical principles and therecommendations of the EEC Council directive 2010/63/EU about the protection of animals, which are used for scientific purposes.The results of the study showed that the 20-day preventive administration of the herbal mixtures reduced alimentary hyperglycemia at the 30th min of OGTT and helped regulate carbohydrate tolerance disorders by reducing hyperglycemia at the 15th min of IPGTT. The highest hypoglycemic activity showedthe herbal mixture № 19 (Urticae folia, Taraxaci radice, Myrtilli folia, Rosae fructus and Menthae folia) at a dose 12 mL/kg/day, which was almost on a par with the comparison drug – metformin tablets, but exceeded the official herbal mixture «Arfazetin». In addition, the dose-dependence of the effectiveness of all five studied herbal mixtures was established.