You have no items in your shopping cart.
ABSTRACT
Diabetes is a group of physiological dysfunction characterized by hyper-glycemia resulting directly from insulin resistance, inadequate insulin secretions, or excessive glucagon secretion and is associated with disturbances of carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism. The aim of this study was to evaluate the hematinic effects of oral administration of hexane fraction of G. latifolium in streptozotocin induced diabetic Wister rats. 35 male rats weighing 120g-150g were acclimatized for one week under standard laboratory conditions and were divided into five groups at the end of acclimatization. The groups were: Group 1, normal control, Group 2, diabetic control (STZ only), Group 3 positive control (Metformin), Group 4, hexane fraction (200mg/kg bw), and Group 5 hexane fraction (400mg/kg bw). A sublethal dose of streptozotocin was administered to the animals intraperitoneally (peritoneal cavity) in order to induce diabetes and they were subsequently treated for 14 days. Blood samples were collected from the tail artery of the rats after day 7 and day 14 for determination of blood glucose level. At the end of the study, all animals were sacrificed and blood samples were collected from the aorta into lithium heparin tubes and subjected to centrifugation to separate serum from plasma. The samples were taken to the laboratory for hematologic analysis. The findings from this present study suggests that hexane fraction of G. latifolium stem bark possess anti-diabetic activity and improved or balanced the levels of white blood cells, lymphocytes and red blood cells in streptozotocin induced diabetic wister rats. However the hexane fraction of G. latifolium stem bark is associated with marked increased PCV and platelet reactivity.
