Antidiabetic property of seed extract from antidesma bunius (L.) spreng in diabetic rats

Antidesma bunius (Linn.) Spreng a wild plant in family Euphorbiaceae has been reported to possess various beneficial medicinal properties. It is widely grown in Northeastern Thailand. The entire plant is of medicinal value acting as antioxidant anticancer and antidiabetic. It is also a complementary and popular Thai herbal medicine for the treatment of diabetes. Scientific information about this plant is limited. This study was therefore, designed to investigate the antidiabetic property and antioxidant activity of 80% ethanolic seed extract from A. bunius (ABSE). The antidiabetic property study was carried out by giving ABSE at a dose of 250 mg/kg to streptozotocin (65 mg/kg) induced diabetic rats orally and daily for 6 weeks. The results revealed that the extract significantly (p<;0.05) reduced the blood glucose level and increased the body weight of the diabetic treated rats. Creatinine, albumin, total protein, BUN, and serum insulin, in the diabetic rats treated with the extract did not differ from those in the normal control rats. However, hematological values including Hct, Hb, RBC, and WBC were significantly (p<;0.05) higher than those in the normal and diabetic control rats. Antioxidant activity using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assay showed that ABSE possessed relatively low antioxidant activity with EC50 of 2174± 14.24 mg/ml compared to vitamin C (1.48±0.07 μg/ml). These data indicate that 80% ethanolic seed extract from A. bunius possesses antidiabetic property and antioxidant activity. The antioxidant activity is likely due to the presence of phenolic content in the extract. The antidiabetic property shows that insulin secretion is not an underlying mechanism involved.