Hypoglycemic effects of seed extract of Artocarpus heterophyllus

Abstract

Seed extract of Artocarpus heterophyllus is used in the management of diabetes in folkloric medicine, but its efficacy has not been scientifically validated. This study was carried out to evaluate the hypoglycemic effects of this seed extract. Dried and pulverized seeds of A. heteropllus were cold macerated in 80 % ethanol for 48 hours, filtered and the filtrate dried over water bath at 40ºC. Acute toxicity study and phytochemical screening were carried out. Hypoglycaemic effects of the extract (250 and 500 mg/kg) were tested on Alloxan induced hyperglycaemic model using a set of 20 diabetic albino rats of both sexes that were grouped into four (n=5). Groups I and II served as the negative and positive controls having received respectively distilled water (10 ml/ kg) and Metformin (100 mg/kg) orally. Groups III and IV received the extract (250 and 500 mg/kg) p.o. Histopathology analysis of rats’ pancreas was carried out. Raw data were subjected to one-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) followed by post hoc turkey’s test. P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. The estimated oral median dose (LD50) of the extract was higher than 5000 mg/kg. Secondary metabolites such as tannins and saponins were present. The two doses (250 and 500 mg/kg) of the extract conferred a dose-related significant (p<0.05) reduction in the fasting blood sugar (FBS) levels when compared to the control. The histopathology results also revealed the hypoglycemic effect of the extract.