A treatment with a boiled aqueous extract of Hancornia speciosa Gomes leaves improves the metabolic status of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

Abstract

Background: Hancornia speciosa is usually used in Brazilian folk medicine to treat diabetes. The hypothesis of the present study is that this medicinal plant exerts beneficial effects on hyperglycemia, preventing diabetic complications. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the treatment effect of the aqueous extract of H. speciosa leaves on metabolic parameters of diabetic rats. Methods: The H. speciosa extract (400 mg/Kg) was administered to both nondiabetic and severely diabetic female Wistar rats by gavage. The Oral Glucose Tolerance Test was performed and the area under the curve (AUC) was estimated on day 17 of pregnancy. After 21 days of treatment, the animals were anesthetized and killed to obtain organ weights. Blood samples were collected for an analysis of serum biochemical parameters. Results: After treatment with the H. speciosa extract, the parameters of nondiabetic rats remained unchanged. In treated diabetic rats, glycemia, AUC, dyslipidemia parameters, and relative organ weights were decreased compared with nontreated diabetic rats. Severely diabetic rats showed decompensated hyperglycemia, polydipsia, hyperphagia and dyslipidemia. However, the aqueous extract of H. speciosa leaves decreased diabetes complications (indicating a lack of toxicity), reduced blood glucose levels, and exerced lipid-lowering effects. Conclusion: Based on or findings, the H. speciosa leaf extract may be a safe and promising candidate treatment for diabetes and other diseases.

Hepatoprotective Native Plants Documented in Brazilian Traditional Medicine Literature: Current Knowledge and Prospects

“…H. speciosa (Apocynaceae), a tree native to the Brazilian Cerrado and popularly known as ‘ mangabeira ,’ is mentioned in four usage reports [26,28,34,37] . Neto et al [38] . investigated the hepatoprotective effect of aqueous extract from its leaves in diabetic female rats.…”

“…Female Wistar rats Stretptozotocin (40 mg/kg, i. p.) [38] Lyophilized fruit extract (200 mg/kg, p.o. )…”

“…speciosa (Apocynaceae), a tree native to the Brazilian Cerrado and popularly known as 'mangabeira,' is mentioned in four usage reports. [26,28,34,37] Neto et al [38] investigated the hepatoprotective effect of aqueous extract from its leaves in diabetic female rats. The animals were treated orally with the extract at a dose of 400 mg/kg for 21 days after streptozotocin administration, leading to a decrease in hepatic transaminases and in liver weight, with no signs of toxicity in the treated animals.…”

Congenital Anomalies Programmed by Maternal Diabetes and Obesity on Offspring of Rats

“…Then, the rats were fasted for 6 h; after which, a drop of blood was collected from the tail of the rats to determine glycemia (time 0), using a conventional glucometer. The rats were intragastrically given glucose solution (.2 g/m) at a dose of 2-g/kg body weight and after 30, 60, and 120 min later, the blood glucose levels were determined (Neto et al, 2020 ).…”

Hypoglycemic Activity of Aqueous Extract of Latex from Hancornia speciosa Gomes: A Study in Zebrafish and In Silico

“…Some ethnopharmacology surveys report that H. speciosa Gomes is used in folk medicine to treat diabetes and lose weight [ 22 , 23 ]. Preclinical studies have validated its hypoglycemic activity in vitro [ 24 ] and in vivo [ 25 ]; however, both studies have used extracts from the leaves, and currently, there is no study assessing the extract from the latex, which is also used in folk medicine as reported by [ 13 ].…”