Phytochemical Screening and Blood Glucose-Lowering Activity of Methanol Extract of Icacina Trichantha (Oliv.) Tuber

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and/or relative lack of insulin. The use of plants in the treatment of diabetes is pertinent to address and remedy the shortcomings and side effects of conventional drugs. Icacina trichantha (Oliv.) of the lcacinaceae family is reportedly used traditionally as medicine for the treatment of soft tumours and diabetes, and as an aphrodisiac, the tuber being the most widely used part. Here, we report the blood glucose lowering activity of Icacina trichantha tubers using an invivo rat model. The air-dried tubers were pulverised and macerated in methanol for 72 h. The resulting extract was concentrated in vacuo and used for both the phytochemical screening and the treatment of alloxan-induced diabetes (80 mg/kg body weight) in albino Wistar rats via a single intraperitoneal injection. Blood glucose level was monitored every other day for seven (7) days using a Finetest glucometer. The phytochemical screening results showed the presence of saponins, tannins, alkaloids and phenols in abundance while flavonoids, steroids and glycosides were in moderate amounts in the extract. Our results showed a significant (p<0.05) peak blood glucose reduction of 76.00% observed on day 7 of treatment with extract (1000 mg/kg). The result compared favourably with 81.76% observed for glibenclamide (2.5 mg/kg) on the same day, justifying the ethnobotanical use of Icacina trichantha tuber in the management of type 2 diabetes.