Hypoglycemic activity of Morinda citrifolia extract in normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

H. Hadijah, M.Y. Ayub, H. Zarida and A. Normah

Abstract

The hypoglycemic activity of Morinda citrifolia extract was tested through an acute and subchronic study. In the acute study, a single dose of M. citrifolia extract (0.25 g/kg) was orally administered to normal and diabetic rats for an oral glucose tolerance test. In the subchronic study, an aqueous extract of M. citrifolia in concentrations of 0.25 g/kg (low dose), 0.50 g/kg (medium dose) and 1.0 g/kg (high dose) of body weight were orally administered to normal and diabetic rats for 6 weeks. Glibenclamide, a reference drug was also orally administered to the diabetic rats at a dosage of 5 mg/kg for both studies. In the acute hypoglycemic study, the blood glucose level in normal and diabetic rats did not change significantly as compared to their relative controls. A similar result was also observed in the glibenclamide-treated rats. In the subchronic study, blood glucose levels were reduced significantly (p <0.05) in normal and diabetic rats at medium (0.5 g/kg) and high (1.0 g/kg) dose of M. citrifolia extracts as compared to the controls. Supplementation of glibenclamide also reduced the glucose level significantly (p <0.05) in diabetic rats.

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