Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Activity of Ethanolic Extract of Sapindus Trifoliatus Linn.

Abstract

The treatment of diabetes mellitus has been confined to use of oral hypoglycemic agents and insulin, due to having serious side effects. This leads to increasing demand for herbal products with antidiabetic factor with less side effects. This manuscript describes  the  antihyperglycaemic  activity,  in  vivo  antioxidant  potential, effect on glycosylation of hemoglobin and in-vitro peripheral utilisation of glucose of the ethanolic extract of the aerial parts of Sapindus trifoliatus. The extract produced significant decrease in the blood glucose level when compared with the controls in alloxan induced hyperglycemic rats both in the single dose as well as multiple dose experiment at the tested dose level and is comparable with the standard drug glibenclamide. It was observed that the ethanolic extract reversed the weight loss of the diabetic rats and they returned to near normal. The  extract  prevented  significant  elevation  of  glycosylated  hemoglobin  in  vitro, with IC50  value being 12.5 µg/ml that is comparable with the reference drug α-tocopherol. Administration  of  the  extract  and  glibenclamide  significantly  decreased  the  levels  of TBARS, increased the content of GSH and increased the activity of SOD and CAT in liver of  diabetic  rats. The  extract  increased  peripheral  glucose  utilisation  in  the  diaphragm  of diabetic rats in vitro, which is comparable with the action of insulin. Thus, the extract might have insulin like activity and the antihyperglycemic effect of the extract might be due to an increase in peripheral glucose consumption as well as protection against oxidative damage in alloxan induced diabetes.