Taraxacum officinale leaves aqueous extract-mediated glucose lowering effect in STZ-induced diabetic rats.

The use of traditional medicine in treating and managing chronic diseases is currently a common practice. Taraxacum officinale (dandelion), commonly used as food, has been reported to have several pharmacological properties including blood glucose lowering effects in diabetes mellitus. In the present study, the hypoglycemic property of the leaves of T. officinale was investigated.

The leaves of T. officinale were pulverized and extraction was done using distilled water. Phytochemical analysis was performed on the extract to find the probable active ingredient responsible for the pharmacological activity. The hypoglycemic effects of the extract were studied in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats at three doses (10 mg/kg, 30 mg/kg and 60 mg/kg). Linear mixed model technique was used to analyze the multiple glucose measurements per rat. This model acknowledges the presence of dependency by introducing rat-specific random effect(s) which measures the individual rat variations either at baseline (random intercept) or at the different time point (random slope).

Saponins and polyphenols (may be responsible for the activity) were found to be present in the extract. The most appropriate statistical technique model estimated the overall trajectory of blood glucose levels. A random-intercept model was found to be sufficient to model the effect of treatment evolution. The results also showed that aqueous extract of T. officinale decreased the blood glucose levels of STZ induced diabetic rats compared to an untreated group after a 6 hour and a 28 day period. In the 28-day treatment, the reduction in blood glucose levels was dose dependent and comparable to the positive control (insulin treated group).

The study has provided evidence that aqueous extract of T. officinale has hypoglycaemic property comparable to insulin over a period of time.