Okolo Chidinma A, Ejere Vincent C, Chukwuka Christian O, Ezeigbo Ihechiluru I, Nwibo Daniel D, Okorie Augustine N
Physiology Unit, Department of Zoology and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State. 410001, Nigeria.
Department of Physiology, Otago School of Medical Science, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9016, New Zealand.
Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med. 2016 Jul 3;13(4):132-144. doi: 10.21010/ajtcam.v13i4.18. eCollection 2016.
The fruit extract of , the African pear or plum, a tree indigenous to the humid tropics has been used for managing wounds, skin diseases, sickle cell anaemia, dysentery and fever in some African nations. In South Eastern Nigeria, 'herbal doctors' include its marshed fruit in decoctions administered to diabetic patients. However no scientific substantiation of their claim and use exist in literature. Hence, the need to evaluate the antidiabetic and hypolipidaemic activity of hexane extracts of D. edulis fruit in alloxanised animal model.
Sub-toxic doses between 400 and 1600mg/kg were orally administered sub-chronically to alloxan-induced diabetic rats for 15 days and compared to glibenclamide (2.5mg/kg). The glycaemia levels, body weights, lipid profile, blood urea, creatinine and liver enzyme levels were measured. Basic histology of the pancreatic tissue was also performed to examine the effects on the pancreas as possible mechanistic lead.
Oral acute dosing of hexane extract decreased blood glucose levels, while sub-chronic treatment of the extract down-regulated significantly hyperglycaemia, total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-C, ALT and ALP levels. However, the HDL-C levels increased significantly. Histopathological examination of the pancreatic tissues after sub-chronic treatment showed that glibenclamide and the highest dose of the extract 1600mg/kg restored the afore-damaged pancreatic β-cell architecture.
Our findings portend that D. edulis hexane fruit extract possesses hypoglycaemic and hypolipidaemic activities as well as restoration of the pancreatic architecture without any obvious untoward hepatic damages, suggesting that its use in the management of the diabetes may be valid. = , DEnH = n-hexane fruit extract, B.wt. = Body weight, Per os = Oral administration, NC = normal control, DC =Diabetic control, SC = Standard control, LDL-C = low density lipoprotein cholesterol, HDL-C = High density lipoprotein cholesterol, TG = Triglyceride, TC = Total cholesterol.
非洲梨或李子是一种原产于潮湿热带地区的树木，其果实提取物在一些非洲国家已被用于治疗伤口、皮肤病、镰状细胞性贫血、痢疾和发烧。在尼日利亚东南部，“草药医生”将其浸泡过的果实加入给糖尿病患者服用的煎剂中。然而，文献中没有对他们的说法和用途进行科学证实。因此，有必要在四氧嘧啶诱导的动物模型中评估可食非洲梨果实己烷提取物的抗糖尿病和降血脂活性。
以400至1600mg/kg的亚中毒剂量对四氧嘧啶诱导的糖尿病大鼠进行15天的亚慢性口服给药，并与格列本脲（2.5mg/kg）进行比较。测量血糖水平、体重、血脂谱、血尿素、肌酐和肝酶水平。还对胰腺组织进行了基本组织学检查，以研究其对胰腺的影响，作为可能的作用机制线索。
口服己烷提取物的急性给药可降低血糖水平，而提取物的亚慢性治疗可显著下调高血糖、总胆固醇、甘油三酯、低密度脂蛋白胆固醇、谷丙转氨酶和碱性磷酸酶水平。然而，高密度脂蛋白胆固醇水平显著升高。亚慢性治疗后胰腺组织的组织病理学检查表明，格列本脲和提取物的最高剂量1600mg/kg恢复了之前受损的胰腺β细胞结构。
我们的研究结果表明，可食非洲梨果实己烷提取物具有降血糖和降血脂活性，以及恢复胰腺结构的作用，且没有明显的不良肝损伤，这表明其在糖尿病治疗中的应用可能是有效的。=，DEnH = 己烷果实提取物，B.wt. = 体重，Per os = 口服给药，NC = 正常对照，DC = 糖尿病对照，SC = 标准对照，LDL-C = 低密度脂蛋白胆固醇，HDL-C = 高密度脂蛋白胆固醇，TG = 甘油三酯，TC = 总胆固醇。
