Pharmacological Evaluation of Oral Hypoglycemic and Antidiabetic
Effects of Fresh Leaves Ethanol Extract of Morinda Lucida Benth. in
Normal and Alloxan-Induced Diabetic Rats
In the present study, 50 – 400 mg/kg of body weight/day of 50%
ethanol extract of the fresh leaves of Morinda Lucida Benth. (MLE)
was investigated for its hypoglycemic and antidiabetic effects in adult
normal and alloxan-induced diabetic male rats for 7 days. Acute oral
toxicity study of MLE at the limit dose of 2000 mg/kg of body weight
using Up-and-Down Procedure on statistical program, AOT425Pgm, was also
conducted. Results showed that MLE significantly (p<0.05) lowered
the fasting blood glucose (FBG) in both normal and alloxan-induced
diabetic rats in dose related fashion, and its effect was higher
(p<0.001) than that of tolbutamide (Tolb.). Results suggest that MLE
could be mediating its hypoglycemic effect via enhanced peripheral
glucose utilization. Also, acute oral toxicity result showed MLE to be
non-lethal at 2000 mg/kg of body weight. These results suggest that MLE
could be relatively safe on acute exposure when administered to
suspected diabetic patients
