The Journal of Phytopharmacology, 2017;6(1):38-44 DOI:10.31254/phyto.2017.6106
Apigenin: A methanol fraction component of Newbouldia laevis leaf, as a potential antidiabetic agent
Chinyelu C. Osigwe1 , Peter A. Akah1 , Chukwuemeka S. Nworu1 , Festus B. C. Okoye2
1. Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
2. Department of Pharmaceutical & Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Agulu, Nigeria
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 10th February, 2017 / Accepted: 17th March, 2017
The leaves of Newbouldia laevis is traditionally used to treat diabetes mellitus in southeast Nigeria. The apigenin isolated from the methanol fraction of dichloromethane/methanol (1:1) extract of the leaves was evaluated for antidiabetic and antihyperglycemic activity in alloxan-induced diabetic rats and on normal rats. Treatment of alloxan-diabetic rats with the compound (apigenin) significantly (p < 0.05) reduced blood glucose, and increased the liver and muscle glycogen content. The adrenaline-induced elevation of blood glucose of normal rats was significantly (p < 0.05) reduced by the isolated compound. These results suggest that apigenin may be the anti-diabetic principle in the leaves of Newbouldia laevis..
Antidiabetic, Newbouldia laevis, Apigenin, Glycogen, Adrenaline.
HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE
Osigwe CC, Akah PA, Nworu CS, Okoye FBC. Apigenin: A methanol fraction component of Newbouldia laevis leaf, as a potential antidiabetic agent. J Phytopharmacol 201 7 ; 6 ( 1):38 -44 .
Creative Commons (CC) License-
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0.