Abstract
The antihyperglycemic and antioxidant effects of water extract of local Viscum album in alloxanized-rats were investigated. This study performed during 2009 in Babol University of medical sciences (Mazandaran Province, Iran). V. album leaves growing on oaks collected and extracted with hot water. The 90 animals that were used in this investigation were male Wistar rats. 60 rats were gavaged with 500 and 1000 mg/kg/day of V. album extract. One hour after final feeding, freshly prepared alloxan injected subcutaneously. Then blood glucose level was measured according to glucose oxidase method. The antioxidant activity of serum was determined by FRAP assay and serum insulin level was measured with ELISA. The administration of V. album extract (500 and 1000 mg/kg/day) significantly reduced the increase in serum glucose concentration in alloxan-hyperglycemic rats. Both the extracts from V. albumenhance the serum insulin level as compared to control rats. Serum antioxidant activity in low dose of extract was significantly higher at 48 and 72 h after alloxan injection. Serum antioxidant activity in the high dose was significantly higher at 24, 48 and 72 h. This study demonstrated that V. album extract reduced the blood glucose and increases the antioxidant power of alloxanized-rats. Much more work is clearly needed before phytotherapy for diabetes can be advanced to the clinic. Key words: Viscum album, antihyperglycemic, antioxidant, alloxan.
Highlights
Mistletoe (Viscum album) a common evergreen semi parasite of woody plants, has been used for various medicinal purposes from ancient times (Park et al, 1998)
Effects of V. album leave extract on serum glucose and insulin shown in Figure 1 and 2
The administration of extract (500 or 1000 mg/kg/day) significantly reduced the increase in serum glucose concentration induced by alloxan, was prominent 24, 48 and 72 h of alloxan injection
Summary
Mistletoe (Viscum album) a common evergreen semi parasite of woody plants, has been used for various medicinal purposes from ancient times (Park et al, 1998). V. album has been reported to possess a number of therapeutic applications in folk medicines in curing or managing of a wide range of diseases such as diabetes mellitus, chronic cramps, stroke, stomach problems, heart palpitations, to lower blood pressure, difficulties in breathing and hot flushing in menopause (Ohiri, 2003). V. album leaves was reported to exert a beneficial effect to alleviate the symptoms of diabetes in local medicines (Gray and Flatt, 1999; Orhan et al, 2005). There exist little scientific literature on the antihyperglycemic effect and antioxidant capacity of V. album extract in the diabetic patients. The present study is aimed at investigating the scientific basis to the V. album leaves extract in preventing the destruction
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