ABSTRACT

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of aqueous seed extract of Tephrosia purpurea (TpASet) on blood glucose and antioxidant status in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Hyperglycemia associated with an altered hexokinase and glucose-6-phosphatase activities, elevated lipid peroxidation, disturbed enzymatic [Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx)] and non enzymatic [Glutathione, vitamin C and vitamin E] antioxidant status were observed in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Oral administration of "TpASet" at a dose of 600mg/kg body weight showed significant improvement in above mentioned parameters. Our results clearly indicate that "TpASet" has potent antihyperglycemic and antioxidant effects in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats and therefore further studies are warranted to isolate and characterize the bioactive principles from "TpASet".

Objective: Traditionally, Tephrosia purpurea Linn. (Fabaceae) is known to possess medicinal values in treating diabetes and other endocrine disorders. In this experiment, authors evaluated the beneficial role of Tephrosia purpurea Ethanolic seed extract [TpEt] standard (normal) versus streptozotocin [STZ] induced diabetic male albino wistar rats and studied the membrane stabilizing effects of TpEt in diabetic male albino rats. Methods: Male albino wistar rats (n=30) were used and divided into five groups, each having six animals. Diabetes mellitus was induced by giving streptozotocin intraperitoneally and blood glucose of above 250 mg/dl was considered diabetes. Blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), plasma insulin, lipid profile and activities of membrane bound enzymes in erythrocytes and tissues were estimated. Results: Increased concentrations of blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, and decreased plasma insulin, and accompanied by alterations in lipid profile and membrane bound enzymes activities in erythrocytes and tissues were noticed in experimental diabetic rats. Upon oral management of TpEt (300mg/kg body weight) for 45 days, the blood glucose and other alerted parameters in diabetic rats showed significant improvements. Conclusion: This study clearly showed Tephrosia purpurea seeds to possess membrane stabilizing effect in experimental diabetic rats probably due to the presence of flavonoids and isoflavonoids which could be responsible for its anti-lipid peroxidative and insulin stimulatory effects. Further studies are needed to separate and depict bioactive principle from the seeds of the same plant. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. Pamu et al.: Lipids and membrane bound enzymes in diabetic rats

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