Background: world is facing explosive increase in diabetes mellitus. It poses a serious challenge to primary health care in developing countries, with negative consequences on the economy. This research is aim at evaluating the effect of Persea americana aqueous seed extract on alloxan induced diabetes rats. Methodology: Effects of the aqueous extract on groups of alloxan (150mg/Kg) induced diabetic rats was investigated. The blood sugar and body weight of the rats was recorded at two weeks and four weeks interval, and one week after the withdrawal of the extract. The test groups (III, IV, and V) were treated with 400mg, 800mg and 1200mg/kg body weight of the extract for 4 weeks. Results: A significant decrease (P<0.001) in blood glucose were observed in all groups compared to Group II. A significant increase in blood glucose (p<0.05) was observed one week after withdrawal of the extract. Significant increase in body weight was recorded in groups III, IV and V compared to group II at P < 0.01, 0.001 and 0.05 respectively. Conclusion: The findings may indicate anti-diabetic effects of the extract which may be due to certain mineral elements and phytochemicals, and increase in weight in could be due to proper nutrient utilization probably induced by the avocado seeds' extract. Avocado seeds may be of beneficial effects to diabetic patients.

Summary:The hypoglycaemic effect of aqueous leaf extract of Murraya koenigii was studied in normal and alloxan-induced diabetic rats. The extract was administered orally at 100 mg/Kg, 150 mg/Kg and 200 mg/Kg bodyweight each to respective groups of animals (Groups I, II and III) for seven days. Group IV received normal saline and served as control for the normal rats. For the alloxan-induced diabetic rats, the same dosage pattern was administered to three groups of rats for seven days (Groups V, VI and VII) while group VIII which received normal saline served as control. At the various dose levels administered, the glucose lowering effect was more pronounced in the alloxan-diabetic rats than in control rats. When compared with chlorpropamide, the glucose lowering effect of aqueous extract of Murraya koenigii was significantly (p <0.05) lower at the dose levels administered in both normal and alloxan-diabetic rats.

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Acute toxicity study was carried out on three most common types of "Gadagi" tea preparations, "sak'',"sada" and "magani".. LD 50 values of each type of the tea were determined. Results of phase I and phase II of the study showed no mortality was recorded in any of the experimental groups of rats in 24hours and up to four weeks after oral administration of 5000mg/kg of each type of the tea. Hence, oral administration of all the "Gadagi" tea preparations studied at a dose of less than or equal to 5000mg/kg (equivalent to 7.90cm 3 , 6.90cm 3 and 8.20cm 3 for "sak", "sada" and "magani" respectively) could be safe.

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Background Changes in blood lipid level (dyslipidemia) play a central role in the onset and pathogenesis of macrovascular complications of diabetes mellitus. Traditional herbal healers commonly use anti-diabetic polyherbal formulations to provide a multi-therapeutic approach for the treatment of diabetes mellitus and its associated complications. The effect of the aqueous leaf extracts of Leptadenia hastata (pers) Decne, Momordica balsamina Linn and their combination on lipid profile of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats was therefore evaluated in the present study. Results We evaluated the serum lipid profile and blood glucose level of STZ-induced diabetic rats (60 mg/kg body weight) treated with the aqueous leaf extracts of L. hastata (400 mg/kg) and M. balsamina (200 mg/kg) alone and in combination (400 + 200 mg/kg) after a period of 4 weeks. A significantly decreased (p < 0.05) level of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels and increased (p < 0.05) level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol was observed in all the treated groups when compared to the untreated diabetic rats. Furthermore, the combination treatment was potentially a more effective blood lipid-lowering (p < 0.05) agent when compared to the single treatments. Conclusion Results from this study demonstrated the blood lipid-lowering potential of the aqueous leaf extracts of L. hastata, M. balsamina, and their combination. However, the polyherbal combination could be more potent in controlling diabetes mellitus, associated dyslipidemia, and its complications.

Aim:The study is aimed at assessing the antioxidant potentials of Nymphaea lotus and Nymphaea pubescens seed oils. Study Design: It was designed to extract oil from the seeds and investigate their antioxidant properties to indicate their capabilities to improve oxidative stability.