Hypogycemic activity of leaves and stem bark extracts of Ailanthus excelsa in normal and diabetics rats

GENTA, SUSANA; CABRERA ,WILFREDO; SAID, ATAA; FARAG, AMHED; RASHED, KHALED; SÁNCHEZ, SARA

Tafi del Valle, Tucumán

Congreso; XXI Annual Scientific Meeting of Tucumán Society Biology; 2004

Asociación de Biología de Tucumán

Ailanthus excelsa is known as tree of Heaven in the Indian tradition. Different parts of this plant are widely used in traditional medicine for a variety of diseases. The present study was designed to investigate the oral hypoglycemic activity of leaves and stem bark extracts of Ailanthus excelsa in normoglycemic, transiently hyperglycemic and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. The leaves (300g) and stem bark (150 g) were extracted with 70% methanol or hot distilled water, respectively, in a continuous extraction apparatus, with an extract yield of 32 g for leaves and 12.5 g for stem bark. To carry out the experiments, a 10% (w/v) dissolution was prepared for each extract. The main effects of oral administration of each extract in a dose of 8 ml/kg body weight were the following. No significant changes in blood glucose levels were found when normal glycemic rats received a single dose of each extract. In a glucose tolerance test, a single administration of leaves or stem bark extracts lowered the blood glucose in normal rats. The administration of each extract for 60 days produced a significant hypoglycemic effect on STZ-induced diabetic rats, with improved renal parameters. These results suggest a potential use in the diabetes treatment