El Awdan Sally A, Abdel Jaleel Gehad A, Saleh Dalia O, Abdel Basset Marawan, Melek Farouk R, Kassem Iman A A, Badawi Manal
Z Naturforsch C J Biosci. 2016;71(7-8):253-60. doi: 10.1515/znc-2015-0151.
The fruits of Gleditsia species (Fabaceae) have been known in traditional medicine as a saponin-rich herbal medicine. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of the total methanolic extract of Gleditsia caspica (MEGC) and its saponin-containing fractions (SFGC) on hyperglycemia in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. A single intraperitoneal injection of STZ (55 mg/kg body weight) was used to induce hyperglycemia in male albino rats. MEGC (15, 30 and 60 mg/kg, p.o.) and SFGC (15, 30 and 60 mg/kg, p.o.) were administered to the diabetic rats daily for 14 days. The anti-diabetic drug gliclazide (10 mg/kg, p.o.) was used as a positive control. Blood samples were collected from overnight fasted rats for the evaluation of the antihyperglycemic, antihyperlipidemic and antioxidant activities. The levels of glucose, triglycerides (TG), cholesterol (TC) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were increased significantly, whereas the levels of α-amylase, insulin and reduced glutathione (GSH) were decreased in the experimental diabetic rats. Pancreas and liver of the diabetic rats exhibited significant changes in the histopathology, morphology and DNA content. Administration of MEGC or SFGC led to a decrease in the levels of glucose, TG, TC and MDA. In addition, the levels of α-amylase, insulin and GSH were increased in MEGC and SFGC treated diabetic rats. Also, the histopathological and morphological changes, as well the changes in DNA were significantly reversed by the extracts. Thus, MEGC and SFGC exhibited potent hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activities in STZ- induced diabetic rats.
皂荚属植物（豆科）的果实作为一种富含皂苷的草药在传统医学中广为人知。本研究旨在探讨高加索皂荚总甲醇提取物（MEGC）及其含皂苷组分（SFGC）对链脲佐菌素（STZ）诱导的糖尿病大鼠高血糖的影响。采用单次腹腔注射STZ（55mg/kg体重）诱导雄性白化大鼠高血糖。将MEGC（15、30和60mg/kg，口服）和SFGC（15、30和60mg/kg，口服）每日给予糖尿病大鼠，持续14天。抗糖尿病药物格列齐特（10mg/kg，口服）用作阳性对照。从禁食过夜的大鼠采集血样，以评估其降血糖、降血脂和抗氧化活性。实验性糖尿病大鼠的血糖、甘油三酯（TG）、胆固醇（TC）和丙二醛（MDA）水平显著升高，而α-淀粉酶、胰岛素和还原型谷胱甘肽（GSH）水平降低。糖尿病大鼠的胰腺和肝脏在组织病理学、形态学和DNA含量方面表现出显著变化。给予MEGC或SFGC可导致血糖、TG、TC和MDA水平降低。此外，MEGC和SFGC治疗的糖尿病大鼠中α-淀粉酶、胰岛素和GSH水平升高。而且，提取物显著逆转了组织病理学和形态学变化以及DNA变化。因此，MEGC和SFGC在STZ诱导的糖尿病大鼠中表现出有效的降血糖和降血脂活性。
