An Appraisal of Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Potential of Brassica oleracea var. italica and Cassia absus

Abstract

Background : Diabetes is a chronic and one of th e most widely affecting diseases with almost 8.4% of world population is suffe ring from this disease. Although, a vast number of treatments are available, but, still rising incidence warrants a need to investigate new treatments. Methods: The focus of this study is to investigate the anti hyperglycemic ac tivity of se lected plants both in vitro and in vivo. For validation of ex tract, a pre liminary evaluation of aqueous, ethanol , chloroform and petroleum eth er extracts of Brassica aleracea var. italica and Cassia absus was done by qualitative and quantitative phytochemical screening, a-amylase inh ib ition assay. Brine shrimp tox icity assay, and antioxidant capacity were also determined. The extracts which showed the most significant in vitro rcsults were used in an alloxan induced di abetic rat mod el. 54 male Sprague-Dawley albino rats (250 to 300g) were divided randomly into nine experimental groups (n=6). Intraperitoneal administration of all oxan (l20mg/kg) was used to induce diabetes in diabetic groups. Plant extracts were administered orally (300mg/kg) to experimental groups while the positive contro l group received standard drug glibenclamide. Blood samples were co ll ected after 2 1 days and tested for serum glu cose, AL T, cho lesterol, and urea . For statistical analysis, ANOV A test was applied for all the groups. Results: In vitro results showed that ethano lic and aqueous extracts of Brassica alcracca vaL italica flowering heads and Cassia absus seeds had hi ghcst antioxidant, total phenolic and total flavonoid contents. After in vivo studies it was reveal cd that oral administration of aqueous ex tracts of broccoli and Cassia absus resu lted in a statistically significant decrease in the elevated serum glucose levels (142 and 162 mg/dl respectively) and increase the body weight in test groups as compared to co ntrol groups. Conclusion: Findings of the present study providc sufficicnt ev idencc for the lraditional use of Brassica olcracca var. italica and Cassia absLls in the control of diabetes. Key Wo rds: A ll oxan induced diabetes, antioxidant, antidi abetic, Brassica a/cracca, Cassia absLl