Background: Insulin-related defects, whether in secretion or action, lead to a conglomerate of metabolic disorders with elevated glycemic index known as diabetes. Due to high cost of synthetic drugs, scientific research is being done to explore the use of herbal extracts to ameliorate this disease. Azanza garckeana fruits (AGF) are edible and are most useful as medicinal agents. This research explored the effect of this plant on blood glucose and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1) levels in alloxan induced diabetic female wistar rats. Method: Experimental Diabetes mellitus was induced with a single intraperitoneal injection of alloxan (150 mg/kg) in all test groups except the normal control. The study examined rats that were considered diabetic and had fasting blood glucose levels 250 mg/dL. A total of 30 rats were used for this study; Group 1 –control, group 2 - alloxan only and groups 3-5 - hydroethanolic extract of AGF 250mg, 500mg and1000mg/kg respectively and group 6- glibenclamide at 10 mg/kg body weight. Blood glucose levels were measured on day 1, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28th day using a glucometer, whereas HbA1 was measured on the 28th day. Results: Blood glucose levels in alloxan-induced rats were significantly raised from 4.34 mmol/L - 18.26 mmmol/L on day 1 and HbA1 levels were significantly elevated from 4.10 ± 0.05 in control group to 4.64 ± 0.07 (%) when treated with alloxan. However, on day 28 the 500mg/kg AGF extract significantly reduced blood glucose levels from 27.76 ± 1.39 mmol/L in alloxan only group to 5.94 ± 0.76 mmol/L. HbA1 decreased significantly from 4.64 ± 0.07 to 4.08 ± 0.04(%) with 1000mg/kg AGF extract. The Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) version 21.0 was used to analyze the data. Conclusion: AGF extract significantly decreased blood glucose levels proving more effective than the synthetic drug (glibenclamide).
Laz-Okenwa et al. (Wed,) studied this question.