Comparison of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of Eryngium billardieri fruit with metformin in the treatment of type 2 diabetes in male Wistar rats

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common diseases of the endocrine system. The disease is caused by a lack of cellular absorption of blood sugar and is associated with certain changes in intracellular metabolism in tissues including the liver and pancreas. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of aqueous and hydroalcoholic extract of borage on the concentration of glucose, insulin, malondialdehyde and also the histopathology of liver and pancreatic tissue in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

In this study, 35 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups of 8, including healthy group, diabetic control, treatment with boonaq alcoholic extract 1.6 g/kg, treatment with boqnaq aqueous extract 1.6 g/kg, metformin treatment 1.6 g/kg were divided. Healthy rats became diabetic after two weeks of treatment with normal food by injection of 60 mg/kg streptozotocin and then received borage powder and metformin daily by gavage for 2 weeks. Before induction of diabetes and at the end of the experiment, blood samples were taken from all animals and the concentration of glucose, insulin and malondialdehyde in the blood was analyzed by enzymatic method. Cal Wallis and Wilcoxon and analysis of variance were analyzed.

The results showed a significant increase in glucose concentration in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats compared to other groups (p<0.05). Bougainvillea plant significantly increased glucose and insulin compared to the diabetic control group. Histological studies show a positive effect of plant extract on reducing liver inflammation in diabetic rats and protecting pancreatic cells from oxidative damage.

According to the results of this study, borage has not reduced glucose but may be effective in treating diabetes. Also, the alcoholic extract of borage plant induced its anti-diabetic effect by reducing malondialdehyde and improving the antioxidant pathway of cells. The reduction of MDA as an oxidative index was not significantly different from metformin.