Effects of Aqueous Leaf Extract of Passiflora suberosa L. on Blood Glucose Levels of Male Mice

Abstract

Extracts of the genes Passiflora has been shown to compromises a therapeutic value to control glycemia and lipid levels. Raw leaves of Passiflora suberosa L. (Family: Passifloraceae) is used as a traditional remedy to manage diabetes. Yet, its ethnomedical usage is not scientifically proven. The present study was conducted to examine the hypoglyceamic effect of the aqueous leaf extract (ALE) of P. suberosa, using normoglycemic male mice. ALE was prepared and mice (n=9/group), were treated with 25, 50, 100, 200 mg/kg ALE and distilled water (DW; control). Fasting and random blood glucose levels were determined at 1st, 3rd and 5th h post-treatment. Acute administration of 50 mg/kg of ALE significantly (p<0.01) reduced fasting blood glucose levels (BGL) by 10%, 20% and 24% respectively at 1st, 3rd and 5th h post treatment. Similarly, 100 mg/kg of ALE significantly (p<0.01) reduced fasting BGL at 3rd (24%) and 5th (29%) h post treatment. However, it did not change the random BGL in non-fasted mice. To evaluate the chronic effect of ALE, 18 mice (n=9) were treated orally either with 50 mg/kg of ALE or DW for 30 consecutive days and on day 31, fasting BGL was measured after 1,3 and 5 hrs. A significant reduction in fasting BGL was observed, at 1st (17%), 3rd (18%) and 5th (27%) h respectively. The same dose showed a significant (p<0.01) improvement in sucrose tolerance test (18%) after 5 hours. However, ALE did not show a significant improvement in glucose tolerance test following an oral glucose challenge. The findings from this study provide evidences for ethnomedical usage of P. suberosa as an anti-diabetic agent in the traditional Sri Lankan medicinal system. Keywords: Passiflora suberosa, Aqueous leaf extract, Hypoglycemia, Blood glucose level