Abstract
This study evaluated the anti-hyperglycemic potential of Stemonocoleus micranthus Harms. (Fabaceae) stem bark. Three models used in this study were: normoglycemic animal model, oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and alloxan-induced hyperglycemic model for acute and prolonged administration. Five (5) groups of rats (n=5) were used for all models; group 1 served as the control (received 2 ml/kg of distilled water; p.o.), groups 2, 3, and 4 received S. micranthus extract (SME) 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg, respectively, while group 5 received glibenclamide (GLI 0.2 mg/kg) as a reference drug. In the normoglycemic study, the % reduction in blood glucose concentration (BGC) was 22.24, 29.97, 30.03 and 37.28% for SME (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg) and GLI, respectively. In the OGTT study, suppression in BGC was statistically significant (p<0.05) at 120 min for the 400 mg/kg SME group. The glycemic changes (%) observed in SME (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg) treated rats were 3.4, 0.86 and 0.45%, respectively at the 120 min relative to 0 min values. Also, oral administration of SME (100, 200, 400 mg/kg) and GLI significantly (p<0.05) reduced the BGC to varying degrees in alloxan-induced hyperglycemic rats. The SME at 400 mg/kg produced the highest percentage diminution in BGC of 23.26 and 67.66% for the acute and the prolonged anti-hyperglycemic study respectively, whereas the standard drug, GLI, exhibited 73.55 and 66.10%, respectively. Histopathological studies revealed protection from the harmful effect of alloxan on the kidney and liver by SME-treatment after 28 days as against GLI treated group where there was evidence of mild hepatosis. From the results, it can be deduced that S. micranthus stem bark possesses anti-hyperglycemic effects, thus scientifically corroborating with the folkloric use. Key words: Stemonocoleus micranthus, alloxan, glibenclamide, normoglycemia, hyperglycemia.
Highlights
The prevalence of diabetes is increasing worldwide, with the condition recognized as one of the serious health problems affecting both developed and developing countries in the 21st century
Data were analysed using One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) (SPSS version 20) and the results presented as mean ± SEM
This study investigated the anti-hyperglycemic potential of S. micranthus Harms. (Fabaceae) stem bark using normoglycemic, oral glucose - loaded and alloxaninduced hyperglycemic rat models
Summary
The prevalence of diabetes is increasing worldwide, with the condition recognized as one of the serious health problems affecting both developed and developing countries in the 21st century. Ethnobotanical reports indicate that over 80, 000 species of higher plants have been used for a medicinal purpose globally (Duke, 1992; Jantan et al, 2015) Many of these plants have been studied experimentally to validate their antidiabetic activity with several human clinical studies indicating the beneficial effects of herbal medicinal products in the prevention and control of diabetes (Ota and Ulrih, 2017; Onyeji et al, 2017; Salehi et al, 2019)
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