Abstract:
This study was designed to evaluate the chemical constituents and also the anti-diabetic effects of the methanol leaf extract of Vernonia amygdalina on some biochemical parameters such as creatinine, triglycerides, total protein, total bilirubin, and cholesterol, in the plasma of a streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. The methanol leaf extract was first screened for the presence of phtyochemicals using standard methods and the result of the phytochemical screening showed the presence of Alkaloid, Carbohydrate, Protein, Fat and oil, Terpenoids, Phenol, Flavonoid, Tannin, Glycoside, Glycoside, Polyphenol, and Saponin. The methanol leaf extract was also analyzed for the chemical constituents present in it, using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry ( GC-MS), the major chemical constituents identified in the methanol leaf extract of Vernonia amygdalina were; hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester (16.2%), 9,12-Octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z), methyl ester (11.8%), cis-13-Octadecenoic acid, methyl ester (14.1%), phyto (10.5%), 9,12-Octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z) (11.9%). In the biochemical study, 25 male albino rats were divided into 5 groups of 5 rats per group. Group 1 was the control, group 2-5 was first treated orally with streptozotocin (STZ) only and observed for 3 days for inducement of diabetes. Thereafter, groups 3, 4, and 5 were orally treated with metformin, 150 mg/kg b.wt. VAM and 300 mg/kg b.wt. VAM respectively for 7 days. The blood glucose levels were determined on days 1, 4, and 11 with Glucometer (Accu-Chek, Manheim, Germany). The extract and metformin significantly reduced (P<0.05) the fasting blood glucose levels in the diabetic treated rats when compared to the diabetic control. In total protein a significant increase was observed on group IV and V. In Triglycerides a significant increase was observed in group IV and V. In cholesterola significant increase was observed in group IV and V. In Creatinine a significant decrease was observed in all the group expect group V.In bilirubin a significant decrease was observed in group II, III, IV and V (P<0.05). In conclusion, the results from this study show that Vernonia amygdalina can be used in the management and treatment of diabetes, hypertension, and some other diseases as stated in previous researches.
