The Effect of Althaea officinalis.L Root Alcoholic Extract on Blood Sugar Level and Lipid Profiles of Streptozotocin Induced-Diabetic Rats

Althaea officinalis is listed among potential anti-diabetic herbal medicines. This study aimed to investigate the effect of the alcoholic extract of Althaea officinalis root on lowering blood sugar and lipid profiles in the treatment of type I diabetes. Seventy male Wistar rats were divided into 7 groups (n=10 each) as follows: Non-diabetic control, sham receiving normal saline (NS), and the diabetic control groups, which received extract of Althaea officinalis at doses of 200, 400, 800 mg/kg body weight respectively through gastric gavage and glibenclamide 5 mg/kg, for a period of 4 weeks. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin (STZ) (60 mg/kg body weight). The hydroalcoholic extract of Althaea officinalis significantly decreased blood glucose levels (P<0.05) in diabetic rats treated, at all doses (200, 400, 800 mg/kg). Significant improvement was also observed in dyslipidemia (p<0.05), caused by diabetes mellitus, as confirmed by reduced levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL and significantly elevated levels of HDL. Fasting blood glucose levels of glibenclamide treated rats 200 mg/kg doses of the extract were significantly lower than those in the diabetic control group (P<0.05). However levels of fasting blood glucose in the group treated with 400, 800 mg/kg doses of the extract had no significant difference, as compared to the group treated with glibenclamide (P<0.05). Results of this study discovered significant hypolipidemic and hypoglycemic effects for the extract of Althaea officinalis in Wistar rats.