Single and combinatorial herbal formulations reversed hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia in diabetic rats

Abstract

Background and Objective: Traditional herbs are often administered in form of multi-herbal recipes, which is presumed to exhibit better efficacy than mono-herbal formulations. The current study sought to evaluate the capacities of single herbal formulations (SHFs), double herbal formulations (DHFs), triple herbal formulations (THFs) and quadruple herbal formulation (QHF) of leaf extracts of Acanthus montanus, Asystasia gangetica, Gongronema latifolium and Solanum melongena to reverse hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia in diabetic rats (DM-r). Materials and Methods: Diabetes mellitus (DM) was induced in the rats by single intra-peritoneal (i.p.) injection of 90 mg/kg body weight (b.w.) of alloxan monohydrate in phosphate buffered saline (pH=7.4). The rats with fasting plasma glucose concentration (FPGC) > 110mg/dL for 5 consecutive days were considered diabetic and treated with the herbal formulations for 21 consecutive days. FPGC and serum lipid profile of the rats were measured according to standard methods.