ABSTRACT

This study was carried out to evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of AMFICUS (Combined ethanol extract ofAndrographis paniculata, MucanapruriensandFicus sur) on alloxan-induced diabetic rats. The acute toxicity effect of AMFICUS was evaluated with twenty-one (21) male albino rats while forty-two (42) male albino rats were used for the evaluation of the hepatoprotective effect of AMFICUS on alloxan-induced diabetic rats. The forty-two rats were randomly distributed into seven groups containing equal number of rats (n = 6). Group 1 was the normal control that received 2 mL/kg normal saline and groups 2-6 were alloxan-induced diabetic rats. The rats were induced diabetic by the intraperitoneal administration of a single dose (160 mg/kg) of alloxan dissolved in normal saline and allowed to stay for 72 h for onset of diabetes. Alloxan-induced rats having blood glucose level above 200 mg/dl were considered diabetic and used for the study. The diabetic induced rats were classified as diabetic control, diabetic rats + 3 mg/kg Glibenclamide, diabetic rats + 200 mg/kg AMFICUS, diabetic rats + 400 mg/kg AMFICUS, and diabetic rats + 800 mg/kg AMFICUS. The groups 7 rats served as AMFICUS control that received 800 mg/kg AMFICUS only. The study was conducted following standard laboratory procedures. The results ofthe acute toxicity study of AMFICUS indicated that it has LD50 above 5000 mg/kg. The results of hepatoprotective study ofAMFICUS indicated that the diabetic control rats exhibited significantly (P<0.05) elevated serum total protein concentration, Serum albumin concentrations, Serum globulin concentrations, Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), Serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and Total serum bilirubin concentrationscompared with the normal control and rats administered 800 mg/kg AMFICUS only, respectively. The alterations in the serum total protein concentration, Serum albumin concentrations, Serum globulin concentrations, Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), Serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and total serum bilirubin concentrationswere significantly reversed in the diabetic rats treated with different doses of AMFICUS and Glibenclamide respectively compared with the normal control. The liver sections of diabetic control rats and diabetic rats treated with 200 and 400 mg/kg AMFICUS respectively, displayed multifocal areas oftubular degenerations and necrosis relative to the liver histomorphology of the normal control. Contrarily, the liver histomorphology of diabetic rats treated with 800 mg/kg AMFICUS, and rats administered 800 mg/kg AMFICUS only. respectively showed normal histomorphology compared to the diabetic control. The findings from this study show that AMFICUS possesses hepatoprotective effect against liver disorders associated with alloxan-induced diabetes in rats and suggest it could play a critical role in the management of diabetes.