Phytochemical Investigations and Evaluation of Anti Diabetic Activity of Selected Indian Herbs and Preparation Evaluation of Antidiabetic Formulation against Experimental Diabetes in Albino Rats

Abstract

In the last few years, there has been a growing interest in the herbal medicine in the care and management of diabetes both in developing and developed countries, due to their natural origin and less side effects. A large number of anti-diabetic medicines are available in the pharmaceutical market for diabetes and due to unwanted side effects, the efficacy of these compounds are debatable and there is a demand for new compounds for the treatment of diabetes. In this work, an attempt has been made to develop an anti-diabetic Herbal drug Suspension formulation from three plants. The leaves of Aegle marmelos (AM) and Madhuca indica (MI) were collected from Elephent hill, Othakkadai village in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu, India whereas the rhizomes of Costus speciosus (CS) were collected from Nazareth village in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, India. Three plant species were identified and authenticated at the Department of Botany, American College, Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Leaves of AM and MI and rhizomes of CS were shade-dried, ground in to a coarse powder and extracted in succession in an increasing order of polarity using AR solvents such as petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, ethanol and water. Preliminary phytochemical screening was undertaken to study the presence of constituents; isolation of compounds done by column chromatography, LC-MS and characterization of isolated compounds using spectral analysis. In conclusion, aqueous extract of Aegle marmelos, ethanol extract of Madhuca indica and ethanol extract of Costus speciosus showed a significant anti diabetic activity in streptozotocin induced diabetes in albino rats. However further studies are in progress to isolate the active constituents of investigative plants and also to evaluate the exact mechanism of action for the anti diabetic activity. Therefore, there is a need to conduct further animal studies and human clinical trials to ascertain the efficacy, usefulness and safety of this formulation as an intended drug for use in human beings.