Investigation of the anti-inflammatory and hypoglycaemic effects of macaranga hurifolia beille (eurphorbiaceae) extract on wistar albino rats

Macaranga hurifolia Beille (Euphorbiaceae) is used in Nigerian ethnobotany for treating several diseases. This work was designed to determine the phytochemical composition, as well as, investigate the anti-inflammatory and hypoglycaemic activities of Macaranga hurifolia extract (MHE). MHE was evaluated for its anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic potentials using the egg albumin inflammatory model and alloxan-induced diabetic rat model, respectively. MHE produced both dose-dependent and time-dependent inhibition of oedema development with its maximum effect (69.6%) produced at the dose of 300 mg/kg. The acute in vivo antidiabetic study revealed that MHE produced significant hypoglycaemic effects at doses of 200 mg/kg (54% reduction) and 400 mg/kg (59% reduction), comparable to glibenclamide (5 mg/kg) which caused a 42% decrease, while all the treatment groups produced at least 25% reduction in blood glucose level for the chronic study. This study established, for the first time, the anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic potentials of Macaranga hurifolia.