Phytochemical Screening and Blood Glucose-lowering Effects of Ethanol Leaf Extract of Two Corchorus Species on Alloxan-induced Diabetic Albino Rats

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder with tremendous debilitating effects of high public health impact. Drugs employed in the treatment and management of the condition have remained unsuccessful in curbing the effects of the disease necessitating a turn to natural plant habitat for therapeutic remedies. The present study thus demonstrated the antihyperglycaemic effect of the ethanol extracts of Corchorus tridens and Corcchorus olitorius alloxan-induced diabetic rats as well as phytochemical investigations of the plants.

Methods: Two groups of thirty rats each were administered C. tridens ethanol extract (CTEE) and C. olitorius ethanol extract (COEE) respectively for three days after pretreatment with alloxan for induction of diabetes. Rats in both cohorts were randomized into six groups (A-F) of five rats and subsequently received treatments as follows: groups A-C received 50mg/kg, 100mg/kg and 200mg/kg body weights of the extracts respectively. Group D received neither alloxan nor the extract and served as the (Negative) control while Group E was administered with 0.2mg/kg of glibenclamide and Group F (Positive) was induced with alloxan but was not treated with either extract or antidiabetic drug. All animals received 200mg/kg body weight alloxan except rats in Group D. Phytochemical investigations were also carried out on plant extracts using methods according to Association of Analytical Chemists.

Results: A significant increase in blood sugar level up to 592mg/dl on administration with alloxan was observed in all groups except Group D in the CTEE cohort. On the sixth day of experiment, the mean blood glucose level of Groups A, B, C and E that received CTEE reduced by 47.3%, 53.3%, 35% and 58% respectively. Group F did not show any significant change in blood glucose level. On the other hand, groups A, B, and C that received COEE had a percentage blood glucose reduction of 19%, 53.6% and 87.5% respectively. Group D maintained normal range of 90.4-108.8 mg/dl blood glucose. Group E blood glucose level showed a glucose decline of 58.7% to 245.8+25.20 from 596+8.25 while Group F remained high at 488.5+25.82. These findings showed a significant difference between groups treated with CTEE and COEE (p < 0.05). Preliminary phytochemical analyses revealed the presence of alkaloids and flavonoids as the major secondary metabolites in the ethanol extract of the plants, which for the most part may allude to the plant’s ameliorating potentials in diabetes mellitus.

Conclusion: Based on these findings, it can be inferred that both C. tridens and C. olitorius may be useful as phytomedicines in lowering blood glucose levels in diabetes mellitus.