Planta Med 2008; 74 - PA86
DOI: 10.1055/s-0028-1084084

Screening of glycemic attributes of Trichosanthes dioica leaves in vivo

D Jaiswal 1, PK Rai 1, RK Singh 1, S Mehta 1, G Watal 1
  • 1Alternative Therapeutics Unit, Drug Development Division, Medicinal Research Lab, Department of Chemistry, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, 211 002, India

In continuation of our previous work on Trichosanthes dioica [1] the aim was to screen glycemic attributes of aqueous extract of Trichosanthes dioica Roxb. (Cucurbitaceae) leaves in normal as well as various diabetic models. Variable doses of 250, 500, and 750mg kg-1 body weight (bw) of the extract were administered orally to normal and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced sub- and mild-diabetic rats in order to define its glycemic potential. The dose of 500mg kg-1 bw was identified as the most effective dose which brought down the blood glucose level (BGL) by 32.9% (P<0.001) at 6h during fasting blood glucose (FBG) studies in normal rats. However, glucose tolerance test (GTT) showed the maximum reduction of 30.9% (P<0.001) in BGL at 5h in normal rats with the same dose whereas, the reduction observed was by 40.3 and 88.6% (P<0.001) in sub- and mild-diabetic rats respectively at 3h of glucose administration only. This evidence clearly indicates that the aqueous extract of Trichosanthes dioica leaves has good hypoglycemic potential along with a high anti-diabetic profile.

References: 1. Jaiswal, D. et al. (2008) Pharm. Biol. http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title˜content=t713721640˜db=all˜tab=issueslist˜branches=46– v4646:360–365.