Abstract:
Introduction: Medicinal plant extracts have been used as a popular medicine for the treatment of
diabetes mellitus since ages. The increasing trends in the use of plants as medicines globally, necessitate scientific investigations on novel antihyperglycaemic agents from medicinal plant extracts.
The single administration of aqueous bark extract of Spondias pinnata (SPAq, Sinh. Emberella)
showed remarkable efficacy in diabetic rats. Thus the present study aims to investigate the effect of
repeated administration of SPAq on glycaemic control in normal and alloxan induced diabetic rats.
Methodology: Wistar rats were divided into five groups (n=6). Group 1 and 2 served as untreated
normoglycaemic and alloxan induced diabetic rats (150 mg/kg i.p.) respectively. Group 3 and 4 were
diabetic rats treated with the SPAq (1.00 g/kg) and glibenclamide (0.5mg/kg) for 30 days respectively. Group 5 was normoglycaemic rats treated with the same dose ofSPAq. Oral glucose tolerance
test was performed and body weights of animals were recorded at weekly intervals. Glycosylated
haemoglobin percentage (%HbA1c) was estimated on the 30
1h day.
Results: The SPAq and glibenclamide improved glucose tolerance by 41 % and 53% (p<0.05) respectively in diabetic rats. The SPAq and glibenclamide reduced HbA1c
to 6.85±0.02% and 6.31±0.04%
respectively (p<0.05). The decrease in HbA1c in SPAq treated normoglycaemic rats was found to
be statistically non -significant (p<0.05). In contrast the administration of SPAq to diabetic rats
restored the bodyweights of animals compared to untreated diabetic rats.
Conclusion: The aqueous extract of Spondias pinnata improved the glycaemic control in alloxan
