1Department of Biotechnology, Institute
of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad Campus,
Hyderabad, 2Molecular Biophysics Laboratory,
Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of
Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, 3Department of
Clinical Biochemistry, Indira Gandhi Institute of
Medical Sciences, Patna, India.
*For correspondence:
Email:
asif_srmcbt@yahoo.com
Tel: +91-9031737458
Received:
31 August 2011
Revised accepted:
23 April 2012
Tropical
Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, June 2012;
11(3): 429-435
http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tjpr.v11i3.12
Abstract
Purpose: To investigate the anti-diabetic,
hepatoprotective and lipid homeostatic activity of
Cinnamomum zeylanicum aqueous bark extract on
streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type-I diabetic rats.
Methods: The animals were divided into three
groups (n = 6). of normal rats; streptozotocin-induced
diabetic rats; and diabetic rats treated with 200 mg/kg
of the aqueous bark extract, respectively. Treatment was
via the oral route for 15 days. Various biochemical
parameters, including lipid profile and glycogen
biosynthesis were analysed. Similarly, differential
regulation and expression of glucose homeostatic enzymes
were evaluated in order to validate the anti-diabetic
activity of the extract.
Results: Total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride
(TG), LDL-cholesterol (LDL) and VLDL-cholesterol (VLDL)
levels decreased significantly (p < 0.05) in the
diabetic animals by 12.5, 23.86, 14.96 and 20 %,
respectively, compared to their initial values. The
extract increased HDL-cholesterol (HDL) and tissue
glycogen levels by 25.0 and 172.3 %, respectively, in
diabetic rats. Similarly, differential regulation and
expression of glucose homeostatic enzymes, namely,
glucokinase (GK), glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase),
phosphoenol pyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK),
glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PDH) and Insulin
II (Ins II), showed significant improvement upon extract
treatment in STZ-induced diabetic rats.
Conclusion: These results demonstrate the anti-diabetic, and
hypolipidemic activities of Cinnamomum zeylanicum
aqueous bark extract in diabetic rats.
Keywords: Streptozotocin, Type 1 diabetes
mellitus, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Glucose homeostasis,
Hypoglycemia, Lipid homeostasis.
