Evaluation of Antidiabetic Potential of Methanolic Extract of Benincasa Hispida in Dexamethasone Induced Diabetic Rats

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is one of the major public health problems throughout the world. Current therapies especially synthetic drugs often fail to bring back normal glycemic control without complications. Numerous herbal medicines are widely explored as alternative medicine in diabetes. The objective of this work was to evaluate one such herbal extract of Benincasa hispida fruit for its anti-diabetic activity in experimentally induced diabetic rats. The extract at a dose of 200mg/kg/day and 400mg/kg/day was administered to dexamethasone induced insulin resistant animals for 10 consecutive days. Blood glucose levels, lipid profiles and body weight were measured for the evaluation of its anti-diabetic effect. The results of the study at both low and high dose of extract showed significant (p<0.01) decrease in blood glucose levels in diabetic rats. In addition, both the dose of extract also showed significant (p<0.05) decrease in serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, VLDL levels, and an increase in HDL levels, though not significant. Only high dose of extract showed significant (p<0.01) increase in body weight in the diabetic rats. Our study indicates that methanolic extract of Benincasa hispida has a promising effect in controlling blood glucose levels and also aid in counteracting the derangement of lipid profile, a major concern in diabetes mellitus.