Determination and effects of antidiabetic potentials of some phenolics from Combretum micranthum leaf extract on alloxan induced diabetic mice

Abstract

Combretum micranthum has being used for years in Diabetes Mellitus treatment. The tea is used in traditional medicine as a general panacea and for diuretic and digestion purposes including gastrointestinal problems which is attributed to the high Phytochemical content of the plant. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of sub-fractions of Combretum micranthum, a traditional medicinal plant, on fasting blood glucose of alloxan- induced diabetic mice. The methanol leaf extract was subjected to LC-MS analysis which showed the presence of many phenolics (chlorogenic acid C, gallocatechin B and quercetin A) which were isolated by column chromatography and TLC. Fasting blood glucose measurements indicated that before diabetes induction, there was no significant difference among animals in each group. After diabetes induction, the mice were treated with the fractions and their FBG was measured after 30minutes, 1hr, 2hrs, 4hrs and 6hrs of treatment. The FBG of the negative control (induced but not treated) was significantly different (p≤0.05) with that of the normal control group (not induced and not treated) while fraction A and fraction B treated mice were significantly different with respect to the negative control group. There was significant diffefence (p≤0.05) in the FBG of the positive control (induced and treated with standard drug, glibenclamide) and fraction A treated mice when compared to the negative control group after 30mins of treatment, whereas no significant difference was observed with fraction B and fraction C treated mice after the same time of treatment. There was no significant difference (p≤0.05) in the FBG of the mice when treated with fractions A,B and C. The result from this research showed that fraction A (Quercetin-7-galactoside) has the highest antidiabetic activity and might be one of the active phenolics that must have proven the use of Combretum micranthum leaves in diabetes treatment for years and can be recommended for managing diabetes complications.