EFFECTS OF Carica papaya (Linn) LEAVES ON LIPID PROFILE AND BLOOD CLOTTING OF STZ INDUCED DIABETIC RATS

Abstract

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by varying or persistent hyperglycemia resulting from insufficient action of insulin. It is observed as the body’s incapacity to efficiently regulate the sugar balance which leads to severe complications, pancreatic damage resulting in the dysfunction of alpha and beta cells causes disordered glucose homeostasis. This study intends to evaluate the effect of Carica papaya leaf methanol extract on plasma blood glucose, lipid profile, bleeding time and clotting time of STZ induced diabetic rats. Thirty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups and administered different doses of the extract for 14 days while normal control and diabetic control received distilled water. The plasma glucose concentration and lipid profile in the blood plasma of experimental animals were determined using Randox Kits; 20µl of samples and standard were mixed with 200µl of working reagent and incubated at 37°C for 10minutes. The absorbance was read at 500nm against a blank. Both the bleeding and clotting time were also determined as reported by Raof et al. (2013) and Ibu and Adeniyi (1989) respectively. C. papaya leaf methanol extract caused significant (p<0.05) reduction in plasma glucose concentration, plasma total cholesterol, triglycerides, VLDL-C, LDLC, bleeding time and clotting time of the diabetic rats while plasma HDL-C was significantly elevated. The qualitative phytochemical screening showed the presence of steroids, anthraquinone, tannin, and other bioactive compounds. This study showed that the methanol extract of C. papaya exerted a hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic and procoagulatory effect which improves the lipid profile in diabetic rats