Olusola Augustine O and Onikanni Sunday Amos*
Background: In the western part of Nigeria, different medicinal plants including Sterculia tragacantha has been proved in managing diabetes mellitus with no scientific basis. This research focus on the neuroprotective and antioxidative potential of aqueous crude extract from S. tragacantha leaf (AESTL) using streptozotocin-induced diabetes using albino rat model.
Methodology: AESTL was prepared (w/v) and its effect on biomarkers of inflammation; together with some oxidative stress, markers on the brain of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were evaluated.
Results: The results showed that diabetic rats treated with AESTL exhibited an inhibitory effect on the neurotransmitters: acetylcholinesterase (AchE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), dopamine, serotonin, NO and Na+K+ ATPase, in a dose dependent manner, on the brain of the animals when compared with diabetic control. Furthermore, the results revealed that no similar effect was observed in the activities of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the brain of the control and diabetic rats treated with (150 and 300 mg/kg of AESTL). Also, this was observed on metformin (standard drug) group with similar effect with the control group but the vehicle (untreated diabetic group) when compared with the control group and diabetic rats treated with (150 and 300 mg/kg of AESTL) in CAT and SOD showed significant (p < 0.05) increase within the stipulated days of the experiments. In addition, brain content of the glutathione (GSH), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were significantly increased with co-administration of the AESTL doses when compared with the vehicle.
Conclusion: Inhibitory effect of AChE, BChE and some other biomarkers of inflammation and antioxidative potentials by AESTL could be the major breakthrough in the management of diabetes mellitus.
