Anti diabetic effects of lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) leaves in alloxan induced diabetic mice

In Vietnam, lotus plants are widely grown. Some parts of the lotus plant have been used as a tradition medicine. The lotus plant is easy to find, inexpensive, non-toxic and accepted by many Vietnamese people as a means of treating diabetes, and yet data on the mechanism or even effectiveness of lotus leaf on diabetes mellitus was not known. The present study was designed to evaluate the hypoglycemic effect of lotus leaf on mice which had alloxan induced diabetes.
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Anti diabetic effects of lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) leaves in alloxan induced diabetic mice JOURNAL OF SCIENCE OF HNUE Chemical and Biological Sci., 2012, Vol. 57, No. 8, pp. 138-147 This paper is available online at http://stdb.hnue.edu.vn ANTI-DIABETIC EFFECTS OF LOTUS (Nelumbo nucifera) LEAVES IN ALLOXAN-INDUCED DIABETIC MICE Nguyen Thi Hong Hanh, Ma Thi Thu Le and Le Thi Tuyet Faculty of Biology, Hanoi National University of Education Abstract. To evaluate the anti-diabetic property of lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) leaves, experimentation took place making use of an animal model before proceeding to clinical trials. Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of alloxan (75 mg/kg of body weight). Lotus leaves were orally administered once a day for 15 days in the amount of 600 mg/kg, followed by a daily injection of alloxan for three days. Blood glucose levels were measured on the 5th, 10th, 15th days of the experiment. Body weight (BW) and blood glucose levels were determined on the mice which were given alloxan. A comparison was made between normal mice, mice which were diabetic, and diabetic mice which were fed lotus leaves. The results indicated that the administration of lotus leaves tended to bring the parameters (BW, blood glucose levels) significantly closer to the norm. From the histopathological examination that was done, we found that the pancreas of mice treated with lotus leaves both increased the size and restored the normal endocrine cell population size of the islets of langerhans. A kidney histology showed that no difference was found in the structure of the glomerulus and vessels when comparing normal mice and diabetic mice which were given lotus leaves. We therefore conclude that lotus leaves have an anti-diabetic effect and should be the subject of future studies. Keywords: Hypoglycemic, diabetic, alloxan, mice, lotus leaf, Nelumbo nucifera. 1. Introduction Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease caused by an inherited and/or acquired deficiency in production of insulin by the pancreas, or by an ineffectiveness of the insulin produced. DM is a common metabolic disorder which is accompanied by micro and macrovascular complications that result in significant morbidity and mortality [6]. DM Received September 27, 2011. Accepted February 7, 2012. Biology Subject Classification: 362 196. Contact Nguyen Thi Hong Hanh, e-mail address: honghanhnt111@gmail.com 138 Anti-diabetic effects of lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) leaves in alloxan-induced diabetic mice is considered to be one of the five leading causes of death in the world, and the disease is increasing rapidly in most parts of the world. In 1995, the World Health Organization reported that approximately 150 million people worldwide had diabetes mellitus, and this number may well double by 2025 [10]. In modern medicine, no satisfactory effective therapy has been available to date to cure diabetes mellitus [6]. Because synthetic drugs are expensive, of limited availability, have undesirable side effects and carry an uncertain risk when used during pregnancy, some medical practitioners prefer to make use of hypoglycemic drugs of plant origin to treat chronic conditions [2]. Plants which have been shown to have hypoglycemic action alter blood glucose levels through various mechanisms. More and more patients want to use natural products that have anti-diabetic properties. Among the traditional medicinal plants that are reported to have hypoglycemic properties are garlic, bitter melon, aloe, onion, guava and spirulina [2, 4]. Lotus leaf is particularly useful as a medicine to treat diabetes. The leaves have been known to contain 0.2 - 0.3% tannins and 0.77 - 0.84% alkaloids. Flavonoids are considered to be a main component of lotus leaf and flavonoids do have anti-diabetic properties [10]. In Vietnam, lotus plants are widely grown. Some parts of the lotus plant have been used as a tradition medicine. The lotus plant is easy to find, inexpensive, non-toxic and accepted by many Vietnamese people as a means of treating diabetes, and yet data on the mechanism or even effectiveness of lotus leaf on diabetes mellitus was not known. The present study was designed to evaluate the hypoglycemic effect of lotus leaf on mice which had alloxan induced diabetes. 2. Content 2.1. Time and place of study This study was done from November 2010 to July 2011 at the Faculty of Biology, Hanoi National University of Education. 2.2. Materials and methods 2.2.1. Materials Animals: 120 male white mice (Mus musculus), Swiss strain, 4 weeks old (16 -18 g), were obtained from the National Institute of Hygiene Epidemiology. Plant material: leaves of lotus plants (Nelumbo nucifera), of the Nelu ...