Evaluation of Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Effects of Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) in Streptozotocin-Nicotinamide Induced Diabetic Rats

摘要

Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) is a branched deciduous shrub native to Europe and Asia. The planthas been used extensively in oriental traditional system of medicine for treatment of different diseases. Seabuckthorn isfound to have significant antioxidative, antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, cytoprotective, hepatoprtective and tissueregenerative properties. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the antidiabetic and antioxidant effect ofseabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) in streptozotocin-nicotinamide induced type-2 diabetic rats. Experimentaldiabetes was induced by a single intraperitonial injection of streptozotocin (60 mg/kg), 15 minutes after the i.p.administration of 120mg/kg nicotinamide. Seabuckthorn was administered orally to streptozotocin (STZ) diabetic rats.Blood glucose, tissue glutathione (GSH) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in pancreas were estimatedfollowing the established procedures. Biochemical observations were supplemented with histological examination ofpancreatic tissue. The increase of blood glucose, TBARS level with reduction in GSH content were the salient featuresobserved in STZ- diabetic rats. Sea buckthorn produced a significant (p< 0.05) reduction in blood glucose levels andTBARS levels in the STZ- diabetic rats. GSH, reduced significantly (p< 0.05) in diabetic rats, was brought back to nearnormal levels by co-administration of sea buckthorn. Degenerative changes of pancreatic beta cells in STZ- diabetic ratswere minimized to near normal morphology by administration of sea buckthorn as evident by histopathologicalexamination. The results of the study indicate the role of oxidative stress in the induction of diabetes and suggest aprotective effect of sea buckthorn in this animal model.