Antidiabetic and anti-oxidant effects of methanol leaf extract of Momordica charantia following alloxan-induced hyperglycaemia in rats

The plant Momordica charantia is highly valuable having a wide range of medicinal uses with tropical and subtropical regions distribution. This study was conducted to appraise the medicative properties of methanol leaf extract of Momordica charantia (MEMC) on alloxan-induced diabetic rats.

The antidiabetic influence of methanol leaf extract of Momordica charantia (MEMC) was investigated in alloxan-induced diabetes in rats. 50 rats allocated into five groups (A-E) (n =10) were utilized in this study: group A was normal control, groups B to E were induced with alloxan with diabetes established, while group B was not treated, group C received glibenclamide treatment while groups D and E were administered extracts at 200 and 400 mg/kg doses, respectively, in a study that continued for 28 days. Changes in blood glucose levels, body weight, haematology, serum chemistry, antioxidant system and histopathology changes were evaluated.

MEMC elicited significant drop in blood glucose level from diabetic to near normal level, restoring the body weight, haematological and serum biochemical parameters to the basal non diabetic level; likewise the MEMC-treated group elicited a decreased level of oxidant markers such as malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) but increased concentration of protein thiols (PT), non-protein thiols (NPT), glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) indicating its anti-oxidant potential. The pancreas section also revealed repair of distorted pancreatic architecture in MEMC-treated group compared to diabetic group.

The plant exhibited anti-hyperglycaemic, anti-diabetic and anti-oxidant abilities hence could be explored for the treatment of diabetes mellitus.