In vivo study of anti-diabetic activity of Eremurus himalaicus

Diabetes mellitus is a most common endocrine disorder, affecting more than 300 million people worldwide. For this, therapies developed along the principles of western medicine (allopathic) are often limited in efficacy, carry the risk of adverse effects, and are often too costly, especially for the developing world. In order to identify complementary or alternative approaches to existing medications, we studied the antidiabetic potential of Eremurus himalaicus-An endemic plant of North-Western Himalayas. The acute oral toxicity studies of the extracts revealed no toxic effects up to the levels of 2000 mg/kg b. wt. The Ethyl Acetate, Methanol and Aqueous extracts of Eremurus himalaicus were screened for the presence of hypoglycaemic and antidiabetic activity. In this study diabetes was induced by a single IP dose Alloxan monohydrate. The study was carried out on a 14 day protocol and the blood glucose, SGOT, SGPT and ALP levels were measured on Day 0, Day 7 and Day 14 of the treatment, along with histopathological examination of pancreas on day 14. Maximum activity was shown by the ethyl acetate extract with a percent variation in blood glucose level of 30.78% and 48.78% followed by aqueous extract with a percent variation in blood glucose level of 25.43% and 38.77% at a dose level of 250 mg/kg b. wt. and 500 mg/kg b. wt. respectively. Glibenclamide was taken as the standard and the results were quite comparable with it. The histopathological studies also indicated that Eremurus himalaicus is effective in regeneration of insulin secreting β-cells and thus possesses antihyperglycaemic activity. The results also showed that Eremurus himalaicus protects significantly from other physiological aberrations i.e., polydypsia, polyphagia, weight loss and metabolic aberrations i.e., increase in SGOT, SGPT, ALP, cholesterol and triglyceride levels caused by diabetes, in a dose dependent manner. The aqueous extract also showed significant effect in increasing the oral glucose tolerance of rats and it also showed good hypoglycaemic activity in normoglycaemic rats. The preliminary phytochemical analysis of the extracts of Eremurus himalaicus revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, saponins, terpenoids, flavonoids, phenolics and glycosides as the possible biologically active principles