Gynura divaricataEffect on Blood Glucose Levels in Alloxan-Induced Diabetes Mice

Abstract

Gynura divaricata (GD) also known as Dewa leaf is one of the Indonesian medicinal plants which are also native to India, Thailand and China. GD is widely used as antidiabetic, antihypertensive and other diseases including several tumors. However, research on the effects of GD as antidiabetic is still not widely practiced, especially in Indonesia. The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of GD ethanolic extract on blood glucose levels of alloxan-induced diabetes mice. This research is an experimental research with pre- and post-test design using 24 male DDY strain mice. Animals experiment is divided into four groups, that are one normal group and three alloxan-induced diabetes mice group that give 1% CMC (control), 400[Formula: see text]mg/kg GD ethanolic extract and 0.65[Formula: see text]mg/kg glibenclamide, respectively. Treatment was given for 14 days. Blood glucose levels were measured before and after inducing alloxan, and after 14 days treatment. At the end of study, all of animals experiment were sacrificed for histological examination. Phytochemical analysis revealed that polyphenols, flavonoids, steroids, triterpenoids, terpenoids and and quinones were present in ethanol extract of GD. The results of this study showed significant ([Formula: see text]) decrease of blood glucose levels after GD ethanolic extract and glibenclamide treatment. The results of histological examination showed improvement in pancreas damage and significant increase in the number of beta cells in GD and glibenclamide groups. The results indicate that dewa leaf ethanolic extract has antidiabetic activity and the effectiveness is the same as glibenclamide. GD also could repair damage of pancreas caused by alloxan induction.