Background: Diabetes mellitus, a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by elevated blood glucose levels. Current diabetes management involves diverse approaches such as medications, diet, and exercise; however, these methods have limitations. Ocimum tenuiflorum emerges as a promising botanical in the realm of anti-diabetic therapy. This research aims at assessing the anti-diabetic and anti-hyperlipidemic potentials of Ocimum tenuiflorum leaf extract in rats with alloxan-induced type 2 diabetes.
Methods: Twenty-five albino rats were divided into 5 groups (n =5). Group 1 rats were not induce with diabetes and untreated, group 2 rats received mixed of alloxan monohydrate through injection in saline (120 mg/kg body weight) and water, group 3 received mixed of alloxan monohydrate through injection in saline (120 mg/kg body weight) and 200 mg/kg body weight of O. tenuiflorum extract once per day, group 4 received mixed of alloxan monohydrate through injection in saline (120 mg/kg body weight) and 400mg/kg body weight of O. tenuiflorum extract once per day, group 5 received mixed of alloxan monohydrate through injection in saline (120 mg/kg body weight) and 70 mg/kg body weight of metformin once per day, for fourteen (14) days.
Results: There were significant decreases in the concentration level of glucose (197.52±9.48, 128.78±8.08), total cholesterol (174.17±2.04 mg/dL, 161.68±1.38 mg/dL), triglyceride (73.19±2.07 mg/dL, 60.24±1.15 mg/dL), low density, lipoprotein (125.32±2.21 mg/dL, 114.86±2.14 mg/dL), and increase level of high density lipoprotein (35.91±0.46 mg/dL, 48.55±0.67 mg/ dL), in a dose dependent manner in groups 3 and 4 respectively when compared with group 5.
Conclusion: The study demonstrated that ethanol extracts of Ocimum tenuiflorum possesses significant hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activities in albino rats.