Evaluation of antidiabetic and related actions of some Indian medicinal plants in diabetic rats.

Objective: To evaluate antidiabetic activity of chloroform extracts of Acacia arabica bark, Benincasa hispida fruit, Tinispora cordifolia stem, Ocimum sanctum areal parts and Jatropha curcus leaves.

Methods: The chloroform extracts of Acacia arabica bark, Benincasa hispida fruit, Tinospora cordifolia stem, aerial part of Ocimum sanctum and Jatropha curcus leaves were evaluated at different doses (250 and 500 mg/kg body weight.) for antidiabetic potentials in alloxan induced diabetic albino rats. The extracts were administered for two weeks in different groups whereas tolbutamide (80 mg/kg body weight) was used as reference standard throughout study.

Results: The result of present study showed test compounds significantly decreases elevated level of serum glucose and also caused to reverse the cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL and LDL values when compared to untreated diabetic rats.

Conclusions: Our finding indicates that different test extracts were able to ameliorate the derangements in lipid metabolism caused by diabetes mellitus in alloxan induced diabetic rats towards normal level.