EVALUATION OF THE ANTIDIABETIC AND ANTIOXIDANT EFFECT OF AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF GRAPE SEED (Vitis vinifera) ON ALLOXAN INDUCED DIABETES IN RAT

Abstract

Grape seed is used traditionally for medicinal purposes for the treatment of several ailments. It is widely accepted as one of the medicinal herb with a very high antioxidant activity. However, the present study was designed to investigate the anti-diabetic activity of grape seed aqueous extract in alloxan induced diabetic rats and superoxide dismutase. Three experimental groups were compared: a control group receiving the normal diet, a diabetic control group being induced with alloxan and a treatment group receiving the aqueous extract of grape seed. Rats among the treatment group, showed a significant increase (P<0.05) in SOD activity in the blood, liver, kidney and heart with a concomitant decrease in the fasting blood glucose level. The experimental findings demonstrated that V. vinifera exhibited promising hypoglycaemic activity in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Its hypoglycaemic effect and high antioxidant activity could represent a protective mechanism against the development of hyperglycaemia, characteristic of diabetes mellitus