Effect of Ethanolic Leaf Extract of Mucunapruriens (fabaceae) on Lipid Profile inAlloxan-Induced Diabetic Wistar rats

Diabetes mellitus is a global health burden leading to an increase in the search for herbal hypoglycemic agents as alternative to synthetic ones. The effect of diabetes on lipid metabolism is well established. This study was aimed at evaluating the effects of ethanolic leaf extract of M. pruriens on lipid profile levels in alloxan-induced diabetic Wistarrats. Diabetes was induced by injection of Alloxan monohydrate (150 mg/kg b w) intraperitoneally to rats. Diabetic rats were randomly divided into the following groups (n = 6). Group I (normal control) received distilled water, Group II (diabetic control) received distilled water, group III, IV and V received 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg b w of the extract, respectively, while group VI received 250 mg/kg b w Metformin orally once daily for 21 days. At the end of the treatment period, blood samples were collected from the animals and assayed spectrophotometrically for serum concentration of TC, TG, HDL-C and LDL-C. The study showed that there was a significant reduction (p<0.05) in the serum levels TC, TG, LDL-C and increased HDL-C in alloxan-induced diabetic treated groups.However, there was a marked reduction (p<0.01) of 96.86±10.6, 106.31±7.5, 48.09±11.0 observed in the groups treated with 400 mg/kg for TC, TG, LDL-C. While a maximum increase (p<0.01) of 23.01±1.8 and 28.52±0.90 recorded in the group treated with 200 and 400 mg/kg for HDL-C. The result shows that the plant may be useful in the management of secondary complications of diabetes (dyslipidemia) associated with diabetes mellitus.