Antidiabetic Activity of Aqueous and Ethanolic Extracts of Stem Barks from Trichilia emetica (Meliaceae) in Alloxan-Induced Diabeticalbinos Rats

Aims: This study was designed to evaluate the antidiabetic effects of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Trichilia emetica (TE) stem bark in albinos rats.

Methodology: 24 rats of comparable weight were divided into 2 lots, including a control lot of 3 rats and a test lot of 21 rats. Diabetes was induced by injecting Alloxan® intraperitoneally (125 mg/kg bw) for 7 days. After the onset of diabetes, the animals were divided into several groups and given the extracts of Trichilia emetica and Diastabol® orally for 6 days according to the following protocol: Normal Control (NC) received normal saline, group diabetic control (DC) it consists of untreated diabetic, group DD10 and DD20 was comprised of diabetic animals treated with Diastabol® at a doses of 10 and 20 mg/kg bw respectively , group DTEE100 and DTEE200 it consists of diabetic animals treated with ethanolic extract at a doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg bw respectively, group DTEA100 and DDTEA 200 was comprised of diabetic animals treated with aqueous extract at a same dose (100 and 200 mg/kg bw). At the end of experimentation, some blood was collected for the determination of some biochemical parameters such as insulin, blood glucose, AST, ALT, urea and creatinine. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), cardiac frequency (CF) were also recorded.

Results: The results showed a significant (P<0.05) decrease in insulin levels in diabetic rats compared with NC. In addition, diabetes caused a significant increase (P<0.05) in blood glucose, urea, creatinine levels, transaminase activity, and in blood pressure numbers (DBP, SBP and CF) still in comparison with NC. However, the treatment of sick animals with the extracts and the Diastabol at the doses listed above significantly (P <0.05) increased insulin levels and reduced the sames biochemical parameters levels as well as the blood pressure numbers compared with DC.

Conclusion: The data obtained showed that this part of the plant would have antidiabetic effects with ethanolic extract at the dose of 200 mg/kg bw had the highest pronounced effect and could be used as a good alternative for diabetes management, thus justifying its use in traditional medicine.