Abstract
One of the classical features of diabetes mellitus is weight loss which when excessive may be embarrassing to patients. The rising prevalence of the disease in developing countries coupled with its high cost of management is of great concern. The study is aimed at determining the effect of honey on the body weight of of glibenclamide treated alloxan induced diabetic rats. A total of 20 male wistar rats weighing 200 - 250g were obtained and divided into four groups of 5 rats each. Diabetes was induced in the animals by intraperitoneally injecting 100mg/kg of 2% alloxan solution. Each animal was weighed before and after experiment and recorded accordingly. The animals were respectively administered the following; group 1 received distilled water as 5.0ml/kg/day, group 2 received 5.0ml/kg/day of 50% honey, group 3 received 5.0ml/kg/day of 50% honey together with 0.6mg/kg/day of glibenclamide, group 4 received glibenclamide alone (0.6mg/kg/day). The animals were treated for 4weeks. The present study showed that addition of honey to glibenclamide in the treatment of alloxan diabetic rats significantly reduced weight loss associated with glibenclamide treatment alone. This is due to possible honey.induced pancreatic beta cell regeneration.

Key words: Honey, body weight, glibenclamide, diabetic.