Hypoglycemic property of equisetum hyemale linn. on streptozotocin-induced diabetes in albino rats and its antioxidant effect on the resulting oxidative stress

Equisetum hyemale is a well-known medicinal plant used to treat various diseases. In previous studies, different species of equisetum were claimed to contain several phenolic compounds. Moreover, equisetum arvense has proven antidiabetic properties. The objective of this study was to investigate the hypoglycemic, antioxidant and hepatoprotecive effects of the methanolic extract of equisetum hyemale. Its hypoglycemic property was explored using Spangue-Dawley rats as models. Using the DPPH assay, the antioxidant acivity was studied. Lastly, the hepatoprotective effect of the extract was explored by microscopically examining the rats\u27 livers or through liver histopathology and measuring ALT and AST levels. The doses of the methanolic extract utilized were 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg daily, given for 10 days. One-way ANOVA and Tukey\u27s post-hoc test was used to analyze the data for the hypoglycemic activity determination. The results showed that in the blood glucose monitoring, glucose levels were statistically significant for insulin in comparison with the treatment and the other control group. The equisetum hyemale methanolic extract at 250 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg exhibited hypoglycemic effects. The extracts were able to exhibit free radical scavenging activity possible due to the presence of flavonoids. The radical scavenging activity of the methanolic extract of equisetum hyemale was found to be concentration dependent. Results from the histopathology of the liver of rats treated with high dose equisetum hyemale extract exhibited milder hepatocyte degeneration, fibroblast and bile duct proliferation than the control groups