Antidiabetic and antihyperlipidemic activity of hydroalcoholic extract of Withania coagulans Dunal dried fruit in experimental rat models.
OBJECTIVE
Evaluation of antidiabetic potential of the hydroalcoholic extract of Withania coagulans Dunal dried fruit (WCDF) alone and in combination with glipizide, in streptozotocin-induced diabetes, and evaluation of possible antihyperlipidemic activity of the same extract in high-cholesterol diet-induced hyperlipidemia, in albino rats.


METHODS
Experimental diabetes was induced in 30 albino rats with intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (55 mg/kg). The rats were divided into five groups receiving the following treatments orally for 4 weeks: Vehicle, glipizide (2.5 mg/kg), WCDF extract (1000 mg/kg), WCDF extract (1000 mg/kg) plus glipizide (1 mg/kg) and WCDF extract (1000 mg/kg) plus glipizide (2.5 mg/kg). Fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels were measured every week for 4 weeks. Endocrine pancreas histopathology was done at the end. In a separate set of experiment, five groups of six albino rats each, received orally for 4 weeks, vehicle, cholesterol (25 mg/kg/day), cholesterol (25 mg/kg/day) plus atorvastatin (7.2 mg/kg/day), cholesterol (25 mg/kg/day) plus WCDF extract (1000 mg/kg/day) and no treatment, respectively. Estimation of serum lipid profile and liver histopathology was done at the end of 4 weeks.


METHODS
Between-group and within-group comparisons were respectively done by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and repeated measures ANOVA, followed by post hoc Tukey's test, with a significance level of P < 0.05.


CONCLUSIONS
The 4-week treatment with WCDF extract significantly reversed hyperglycemia in streptozotocin-induced diabetes that was comparable to glipizide. When combined with glipizide (2.5 mg/kg), WCDF extract produced a synergistic antihyperglycemic effect as well as improvement in pancreatic histopathology. Moreover, hydroalcoholic extract of WCDF was effective and comparable to atorvastatin in controlling the high-cholesterol diet-induced hyperlipidemia in rats.
Department of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology, School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata, India.
Ankur
A
Datta
Chiranjib
C
Bagchi
Saibal
S
Das
Achintya
A
Mitra
Anuradha De
AD
Pati
Santanu Kumar
SK
Tripathi
Antidiabetic; Withania coagulans Dunal; antihyperlipidemic; high-cholesterol diet; streptozotocin