Antidiabetic principle from Eclipta prostrata

The plant Eclipta prostrata, a member of the Asteraceae family, has traditional reputation of being used as a medicinal agent in Bangladesh [1]. The methanol extract of the whole plant of Eclipta prostrata and one of its isolated compounds, eclalbasaponin II (1) were administered to alloxan-induced diabetic rats for 28 and 7 consecutive days, respectively. During the study, a potent antidiabetic activity was observed. Blood sugar was significantly reduced (Table 1 and 2) by E. prostrata extract and eclalbasaponin II (1), respectively as compared to untreated diabetic rats [2,3]. Analyses of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) [4] showed no significant hepatotoxicity by E. prostrata extractive in alloxan-induced diabetic rats when compared to the diabetic control rats.

Table 1: The effect of 4 weeks treatment of methanolic extract of E. prostrata on blood sugar level

Groups	Mmol/L
	1st day	7th day	14th day	21st day	28th day
Normal (untreated)	4.85±0.08	5.02±0.10	4.91±0.07	4.79±0.11	4.85±0.06
Diabetic control	12.03±0.18**	12.98±0.19**	14.05±0.23**	15.09±0.28**	17.20±0.22**
Glibenclamide treated	12.18±0.55	10.82±0.18	9.53±0.21	7.08±0.16	6.43±0.16
Methanolic extract treated	12.69±0.32	10.85±0.16*	9.37±0.20**	7.21±0.24**	6.55±0.11**

Table 2: The effect of 1 week treatment of eclalbasaponin II (1) on blood sugar level

Groups	Mmol/L
	1st day	3rd day	5th day	7th day
Normal untreated	4.8±0.56	5.03±0.48	4.85±0.55	4.95±0.40
Diabetic control	12.40±0.35**	12.49±0.44**	12.97±0.51**	13.52±0.34**
Glibenclamide treated	12.78±0.25	12.01±0.31	11.63±0.26	10.51±0.35
Eclalbasaponin treated	12.87±0.68	10.80±0.71**	8.17±0.65**	6.06±0.66**

Values are given as mean±SEM for 6 rats in each group. Diabetic control (Group-2) was compared with normal (Group-1) on corresponding day. Experimental group (Group-4) was compared with diabetic control group on corresponding day. *P<0.05; **P<0.001

Acknowledgement: We are grateful to University of Dhaka, Bangladesh for partial financial support for carrying out the research.

References: 1. Abdel-Kader, M.S. et al. (1998)J. Nat. Prod. 61:1202–1208. 2. Yoshikawa, M. et al. (2001) Chem. Pharm. Bull. 49:863–870. 3. Trinder, P. (1969) Ann. Clin. Biochem. 6:24–27. 4. Mansour, H.A. et al. (2002) Toxicology 170:221–228.