Background: Croton lobatus contains high amount of antioxidant phytochemicals that probably account for its wide use as food and medicine in the traditional communities of West Africa. Methods: The study evaluated the modulatory role of methanol extract of Croton lobatus leaf on alloxan-induced diabetes and associated cardiovascular complications in male rats randomly selected and assigned to one of six groups (A to F) of eight animals each: A (distilled water); B (corn oil); C (Alloxan); D (Alloxan + 100 mg kg-1 Croton lobatus); E: (Alloxan + 200 mg kg-1 C. lobatus); and F (Alloxan + 100 mg kg-1 glibenclamide). The extract was administered orally for 14 days. Results: Acute toxicity studies revealed no mortality of rats at with the administration of different doses of extract up to the 5,000 mg kg-1 dose. Diabetic rats treated with 100 and 200 mg kg-1 C. lobatus leaf extract had significant (p < 0.05) decreases in blood glucose level, mean arterial blood pressure, plasma total cholesterol, triglyceride, very low density lipoprotein- cholesterol (VLDL-C), but increased superoxide dismutase (SOD), reduced glutathione (GSH), nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) level compared with untreated diabetic rats. Histology of the pancreas showed focal area of necrosis, and fatty infiltration in diabetic untreated rats, but these lesions were absent in pancreas of rats treated with C. lobatus extract. Conclusion: Methanol leaf extract of C. lobatus reduced arteriogenic risk factors, improved antioxidant status, restored the observable pathological lesions associated with experimental diabetes in rats and, thus offers a new therapeutic window as herbal therapy for the treatment of diabetes mellitus and associated cardiovascular complications.
Key words: Diabetes, blood pressure, electrocardiogram, lipid profile, oxidative stress, antioxidant
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