Glycemic Properties of Trichosanthes dioica Leaves

Abstract

In continuation of our previous work on Trichosanthes dioica Roxb. (Cucurbitaceae), the aim of this study was to screen the glycemic attributes of an aqueous extract of Trichosanthes dioica leaves in normal as well as various diabetic models. The variable doses of 250, 500, and 750 mg 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 500 mg kg^{− 1} bw was identified as the most effective dose which brings down the blood glucose level (BGL) by 32.9% (P < 0.001) at 6 h 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 5 h 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 3 h 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.

Keywords::

• Anti-diabetic
• glucose tolerance test
• glibenclamide
• Trichosanthes dioica leaves
• streptozotocin

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the NMPB (National Medicinal Plants Board) for financial assistance and the first author (PKR) thanks the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) for the award of SRF.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.