Abstract

EVALUATION OF ORAL GLUCOSE TOLERANCE EFFICACY OF VARIOUS SOLVENT EXTRACTS OF MYRISTICA FRAGRANS SEEDS

Muhammad Shaiful Alam Bhuiyan, Md. Saiful Islam, Amlan Ganguly, Md. Zobaer Al-Mahmud, Md. Mamunur Rashid, Md. Salehuddin Ayubee, Farhana Akhter, Mohammed Rahmatullah*

Abstract

Background. Myristica fragrans Houtt. (Myristicaceae) is a tropical evergreen tree, whose seeds are well known and used in cuisine of a number of countries as a spice. As part of our ongoing screening studies to examine oral glucose tolerance efficacy of various plant and plant part extracts, it was of interest to evaluate the oral glucose tolerance efficacy of various solvent extracts of seeds of the plant. Methods. Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was done to evaluate glucose tolerance. Results. In oral glucose tolerance tests, methanol extract of seeds lowered blood glucose levels in glucose-loaded mice by 58.8 and 61.4%, respectively, at doses of 200 and 400 mg per kg body weight. Petroleum ether fraction of seeds at the same two doses reduced blood glucose levels by 62.0 and 63.6%. n-Hexane fraction at the above two doses reduced blood glucose by 58.5 and 60.7%. Finally, chloroform fraction at the same two doses reduced blood glucose vlevels by 64.0 and 65.1%. By comparison, a standard antihyperglycemic drug, glibenclamide, reduced blood glucose levels by 63.3% at a dose of 10 mg per kg. Conclusion. Various solvent extracts of Myristica fragrans seeds may prove useful as blood glucose lowering agents in diabetic patients and also in discovery of novel blood glucose lowering drugs.

Keywords: Antihyperglycemic, Myristica fragrans, OGTT, diabetes.