EA Alex*, AB Dubo, DC Ejiogu, KW Iyomo, KV Jerome, ND Aisha, AO Daikwo, J Yahaya, JD Yaro and RO Osiyemi
Background: Diabetes mellitus is the most common serious metabolic disease in human with a hall-mark of an elevated blood glucose concentration caused by a number of biochemical and physiological alterations
Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect oral administration of lauric acid supplement on fasting blood glucose level and pancreatic histomorphological studies in high fat diet/streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 2 diabetic male Wistar rats.
Study Design: Thirty-five apparently healthy male Wistar rats of 6-8 weeks, weighing between 70 g-90 g were grouped into seven groups of five animals each (n=5) and treated for a period of twenty-one days (21) with graded doses of lauric acid supplement after validation of diabetes. Group 1 and 3 were fed with normal rat feed while group 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 were fed with high fat diet for eight weeks after which low dose STZ was given to same groups.
Methodology: Group 1: (Normal control), Group 2: (Diabetic control untreated), Groups 3: (Normoglycemic) received 125 mg/kg Lauric acid, Group 4, 5 and 6 were administered 125, 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight of lauric acid, Group 7: (Standard control) received metformin 100 mg/kg. Blood glucose level was determined at weekly intervals using glucose test strips and digital glucometer (Accu-Chek Advantage, Roche Diagnostic, Germany). At the end of twenty-one (21) days, rats were anaesthetized using ketamine and xylazine at 75 and 25 (mg/kg) respectively. The Pancreatic tissues were excised and subjected to routine histological investigation for histo-pathological changes.
Result: The results showed that lauric acid at all doses significantly (P<0.05) decreased the fasting blood glucose level from (32.45 ± 0.54, 28.85 ± 1.81, 28.85 ± 2.52 mmo/L) to (7.9 ± 1.07, 5.27 ± 0.39 and 4.45 ± 0.48 mmol/L) after three weeks of treatment. And also, Subsequent histomorphological evaluation also showed necrosis and vacuolization of islet β-cells to be reasonably reduced in the diabetic treated rats
Conclusion: This study has been able to demonstrate the Antidiabetic potential of graded doses of lauric acid supplementations for 21 days of administration and it has found out that it possesses strong Antihyperglycemic potencies and induced β-cell regeneration in high fat diet/streptozotocin induced type 2 diabetic rat models.
