ABSTRACT:
Diabetes mellitus, a global public health problem, is now emerging as an epidemic world over. Over the last century changes in human behavior and lifestyle have resulted in a dramatic increase in the incidence of diabetes world over. Diabetes not only affects glucose metabolism but also lipid, a high risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Oral hypoglycemic agents and insulin is the mainstay of treatment of diabetes, they have prominent side effects and fail to significantly alter the course of diabetic complications. Plants have always been an excellent source of drugs and many of the currently available drugs have been derived directly or indirectly from them. Psidium guajava (Guava) is an economically important plant of high medicinal value. This study was undertaken to evaluate the hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic potential of ethanolic extract of Psidium guajava leaf on normal and alloxan induced diabetic rats. Male 6–8 week old albino rats were selected for the experiments and these were divided into five groups. Diabetes was induced by alloxan. Glucose, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high–density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low–density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and very low–density lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol levels were measured. Significant decreases in the blood glucose level and TC, TG, and LDL cholesterol and increase in HDL cholesterol, were observed after 9 days treatment of ethanolic extract Psidium guajava leaf. It is concluded that the consumption of Psidium guajava possess blood glucose lowering properties but are also beneficial in decreasing the risk factors for CVD through lowering blood lipid levels.