Pharmacological Screening of Antidiabetic Herbal Preparations in Streptozotocin Induced Type-2 Diabetic Model Rats

Abstract

Antidiabetic potency of locally produced antidiabetic herbal preparations (ADHPs) are unknown. In this study, a pharmacological screening of antihyperglycemic potency of locally available six ADHPs were evaluated on streptozotocin (STZ) induced type 2 diabetic rat models. ADHPs were administered to the diabetic rat and blood glucose levels were monitored before (0 day) and after administration of ADHPs (at 14th day and 28th day) by measuring serum glucose concentration using oxidase method. Serum glucose levels in different groups of ADHP treated rats were compared against baseline glucose levels and water control and reference drug by t test. Serum glucose levels were found to be similar at baseline in all groups against water control and reference drug. The administration of herbal preparations except ADHP-3 and ADHP-5 resulted in a non-significant reduction of blood glucose level of the diabetic rats when compared with diabetic rats that received no treatment at 14th day or compared to the diabetic rats received standard or baseline. ADHP-3 was found to be most effective hypoglycemic herbal preparation at 14th day. At 28th day, all ADHPs were found to have hypoglycemic potential compared to water control and only ADHP-3 showed similar hypoglycemic effect compared to reference drug and baseline glucose levels at 28th day. This study revealed that a minor fraction of the locally available antihyperglycemic herbal preparations are truly effective and among the six ADHPs studied, only ADHP-3 possesses hypoglycemic effect.