The investigating of the effect of Artemisia absinthium L. ethanolic extract on blood sugar levels in rats

Diabetes is the most important metabolic disease in most societies and researchers are looking for drugs with fewer side effects to control diabetes. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the Artemisia absinthium L. extract on blood glucose levels in diabetic rats.

Methods and Materials: 

In this study,40 adults male Wistar rats weighing 200-250 g were selected and randomly divided into 5 groups of 8. The groups contain controls, healthy controls, diabetic controls, and diabetics treated with doses of 80 and 120 mg per kg body weight. Streptozotocin was injected intraperitoneally to induce diabetes. The experimental groups were treated orally with the Artemisia absinthium L. extract for three weeks and then the serum glucose sample of the animals and the initial and final weight of mice in all groups were measured. The obtained data were statistically analyzed by SPSS statistical software.

The results showed that the blood glucose level in the groups treated with the extract significantly decreased compared to the diabetic control group. Also, a comparison of the therapeutic effects of the Artemisia absinthium L extract in diabetic rats shows that in high doses of the extract, it had more effects in lowering blood glucose. Weight gain was also observed in all groups treated with the Artemisia absinthium L extract.

It seems that the Artemisia absinthium L extract has a blood glucose-lowering effect due to the presence of flavonoid compounds and polyphenols.