In Vivo Anti-Diabetes Potential of Huntera Umbellata Seed

Abstract

The possible use of ethanol extract of Hunteria umbellata seed as a curative agent in alloxan-induced diabetic rats was investigated. A total of forty-eight adult albino Wistar rats (male: weighed 150 g – 250 g; aged 16 – 19 weeks) were used for this study. Completely randomized design was used for this experiment. Standard methods were used to ascertain the blood glucose levels, kidney function test, serum lipid profile, and liver enzymes. Also, the radical scavenging activity was carried out using the DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picyhydrazyl) method. The results showed that the administration of alloxan has led to significantly increased blood glucose levels in rats. The diabetic control group had constant high blood glucose level that was >250 mg/dl, whereas a significant decrease in blood glucose level was witnessed when the rats were pre-treated with the seed extract. Again, the extract was found to reduce certain biochemical parameters such as overall cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, urea and creatinine. while high density lipoprotein was increased. Also, the radical scavenging activity (RSA) study revealed that the seed has inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 227.34 µg/ml as compared to the IC50 of superoxide dismutase (389.73 µg/ml).The observed effects of the extract could be possibly due to its ability to reduce oxidative damage to insulin-producing β-cell membranes, thus, resulting in increased insulin concentration and sensitivity in the cells. Therefore, in this study it was suggested that ethanol extracts of osu seeds could be a potential candidate for the management of diabetes due to its hypoglycaemic effects.