Mangifera indica is a popular herbal drug for diabetes. It is a rich source of phenolic compounds with hypoglycemic effect. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to evaluate the hypoglycemic and toxicity of aqueous leaf extract of Mangifera indica in alloxan-induced diabetes. This is an experimental study using Wistar rats. Alloxan-induced diabetic animals were treated by gavage with aqueous leaf extract of Mangifera indica for 14 days. The fasting blood glucose level was estimated using standard methods and values were compared to the control. Alloxan-induced diabetes significantly increased blood glucose, proteins, albumin, bilirubin, and liver enzymes (ALT, AST, and ALP) levels. There was also an attendant decrease in the body weight of the diabetic control. However, oral administration of the extract significantly reduced the blood glucose, total protein, albumin, and liver enzymes. Hence, further study is needed to establish the safety of the extract at cellular level using molecular techniques.
Umar et al. (Tue,) studied this question.