Determination of Toxicity and Hypoglycemic Effect in Alloxan-induced Diabetic Mice of Crantz (Fam. Euphorbiaceae) Aqueous Crude Leaf Extract and its Fractions.

OBJECTIVE

(Crantz) leaves have been used for the management of diabetes based on cited ethnopharmacological studies. However, scientific evidence to support its efficacy is lacking. The aim of the study was to assess the cytotoxicity of the aqueous leaf extract and fractions of and its potential hypoglycemic effect on male Swiss albino mice.

METHODS

The cytotoxicity assay was necessary to screen which extract and fractions will be used for the hypoglycemic study.Phytochemical screening identified the composition of the aqueous crude extract and its fractions. The phytochemical results showed the presence of alkaloids, anthraquinone glycosides, carbohydrates, phenolic glycosides, saponins, and flavonoids.Cytotoxicity was screened using CytoTox 96 (Promega), a NonRadioactive Cytotoxicity Assay on liver cancer (HepG2) and normal kidney (HK-2) cell lines. Five samples were tagged as highly cytotoxic and were flagged for further assays. These samples were DCM fraction (100 ppm), n-Hexane fraction (1 and 10 ppm), Ethyl acetate fraction (1 ppm), and Aqueous fraction (100 ppm).

RESULTS

The hypoglycemic activity was examined in alloxan-induced diabetic mice using hypoglycemic study. The aqueous crude extract at dose levels of 200 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg body weight showed significant reduction in blood glucose levels compared to the diabetic control but not exceeding the results in the metformin treatment group. A of 0.05 set a priori was used to consider whether the intervention had a statistically significant difference compared to the diabetic control.

CONCLUSION

The effectiveness of aqueous crude extract in reduction of blood glucose in mice may be attributed to the synergistic effects of phytochemicals present, especially the alkaloids which were retained in the extract but were undetectable in the fractionated samples. The results of this study also support the findings of existing ethnopharmacological studies on leaf extract as a hypoglycemic agent.