This study was carried out to evaluate the oxidative and haematologic effects of
aqueous extract of
Cnidoscolus aconitifolius
(CA) in high fat diet (HFD) and streptozotocin
(STZ) induced diabetes in Wistar albino rats. Diabetes was induced by feeding the rats with
HFD that consisted of 20% sucrose and 20% lard for 4 weeks, followed by a single dose
intraperitoneal injection of STZ (40mg/kg body weight (BW)). The aqueous leaf extract of CA
was administered orally and daily at 400, 600 and 800mg/kg BW from 7days after induction of
diabetes and lasted for 12 weeks, while the normal control and diabetic control rats received
regular diet and HFD respectively. Metformin (50mg/kg BW) was used as a standard
antidiabetic drug. The animals were anaesthetized and sacrificed to obtain blood by cardiac
puncture. Preliminary phytochemical analysis of CA showed the content of tannins
(5.72±0.00), saponins (12.49±0.021), alkaloids (17.45 ±0.65), flavonoids (23.72 ±0.02),
cyanogenic glycosides (0.75 ±0.10) and phytate (1.97 ±0.06). The six vitamins analysed,
showed the concentration of vitamin A (5.24mg/kg), vitamin B
3 (1.40mg/kg), vitamin B
6 (37.23mg/kg), vitamin B
12 (15.98mg/kg), vitamin C (382.00mg/kg) and vitamin E
(18.28mg/kg). There was significantly (p<0.05) reduced activity of catalase (CAT),
significantly (p<0.05) increased level of TBARS, and non significantly (p>0.05) reduced
activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), Packed Cell Volume (PCV) and haemoglobin (Hb)
concentration in HFD/STZ induced diabetic rats. CA significantly (p<0.05) increased the SOD
and CAT activities, PCV, and Hb concentrations of the treated diabetic rats (TDR) while the
TBARS was significantly (p<0.05) decreased compared to the diabetic control (DC). Our
findings suggest that CA exhibited reversal effects on these selected oxidative and
haematologic markers in rats which were previously damaged by HFD and STZ.
