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 alloxaninduced 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 nonlethal 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. (Afr. J. Biomed. Res. 11: 65 - 71)