Anti-diabetic impact of ‘Aju Mbaise’ herbal cocktail in streptozotocin-induced diabetic female rats

Abstract

This study evaluated the hypoglycaemic potential of ‘Aju Mbaise’ herbal mixture. Female Wistar rats of 40 – 50 g and fifty-four (54) in number were obtained and housed at the animal house of the Department of Pharmacology, University of Port Harcourt. They were assembled into 6 groups of 9 rats each. Group I served as the normal control (NC) while the remaining five groups were induced with diabetes type 2 using high-fat diet (HFD) for about 8 weeks and streptozotocin at 35 mg/kg body weight. Group II was the diabetic control (DC) while the other groups (III, IV, V & VI) were administered 7.2 mg/kg metformin and the cocktail extract at three different concentrations of 500 mg/kg, 250 mg/kg, and 100 mg/kg respectively. Biochemical tests were conducted after twelve weeks of treatment. The blood glucose concentration was estimated using the Accu-check glucometer and glucose strips while the rest biomarkers were analyzed using their specific test kits. Diabetes mellitus was confirmed after HFD and STZ administration. Result obtained showed that the normal and metformin control groups recorded significant (p<0.05) lower blood glucose, liver enzymes (AST, ALT, & ALP), urea, and creatinine, as well as higher total protein concentrations when compared to the diabetic control and treated groups. Also, significant (p<0.05) reduction in blood glucose, liver enzymes, urea, and creatinine, as well as increase in total protein concentrations was recorded by the treated groups when compared to the diabetic control group. This study revealed the potential hypoglycaemic effect of ‘Aju Mbaise’ herbal cocktail.