PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF SOME EGYPTIAN PLANTS FOR ANTIDIABETIC ACTIVITY

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common rapidly increasing endocrine disorders all over the world. Some bioactive compounds from plants may work as hypoglycemic agents. The objective of this study is to assess the antidiabetic activity of 11 Egyptian plant samples. This study also aimed to study the toxicity of the most promising plant extracts. Phytochemical screening of 70 % ethanolic extract (EE) has shown to be rich in steroids, terpenoids, flavonoids, tannins and phenols in 11 plant samples. The antioxidant activity using DPPH gave IC50 ranged between 437.83 μg/ml (Vitis vinifera leaves) and 1106.19 μg/ml (Ficus sycomorus leaves). The total phenolic content of EEs was ranged between 13.05±0.99 ppm (Brassica oleracea leaves) and 119.28±4.28 ppm (Ipomoea batatas leaves). The anti-diabetic activity of EE at 500 mg/Kg b. w. administrated orally to streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats showed significant reduction in mean blood glucose levels (233.4±34.65 mg/dl) of Ficus carica L. followed by (263±28.51 mg/dl) of Vitis vinifera compared to diabetic control group (293.60 mg/dl) during 24 h. The EE of Ficus carica L. dry leaves (21.50 %) was further successively fractionated by solvents extraction, hexane fraction, diethyl ether fraction, ethyl acetate fraction, and residue fraction. The anti-diabetic activities of each fraction were determined where the higher reduction in blood glucose level (BGL) was found in diethyl ether fraction (DEEF). Twenty eight day experiments were carried out to determine the effect of Ficus carica L. leaves EE and DEEF and to determine the toxicity of these fractions included histopathological studies. The results showed a significant reduction in BGL of EE and DEEF (183.52±14.82 and 195.07±12.45 mg/dl‚ respectively) with marked improvement in histopathological structure of liver and pancreas in addition to non toxic effect in normal rats. GC/MS/MS analysis for DEEF indicated the presence of six antidiabetic compounds. Key words: Antidiabetic, Fic