The fresh leaves and latex of C. procera were collected from the Dawadmi Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.Calatropisprocera leaves were air dreid under shed and blend into powder form by using electric blender (Moulinex). This powder was stored in glass air tight jar and kept under room temperature.

The fresh latex of C. procera was collected in sterile 250 ml conical flask by making incision at stem near the leave attachment and stored in ice bag to maintain homogeneity and activity during transport.

The leaves and latex were collected from the aerial parts of the plant and dried under shad Kumar vl, 2004. The leaves were grinded to a fine powder. The extracts of water, chloroform and ethanol were prepared by soaking 100g each the dry powdered leaves in 1 litter of water, chloroform and ethanol at room temperature for 4 days with continuous stirring. The extracts were filtered, through a Whitman filter paper and then placed in water bath Oluwatoyin Eunice, October-December 2013.

Male albino rats (150-200g) of 3-4 months old were used in this study. They were kept in the departmental animal house at 27°C and relative humidity 44 – 56 %, light and dark cycles of 10 and 12 h respectively for one week before and during the experiments. Animals were provided with standard rodent pellet diet and the food was withdrawn 18-24 h before the experiment though water was allowed ad libitum. Animal experiments were carried out following the guidelines of the animal ethical committee of the institute.

The extracts were subjected to preliminary screening for various active phytochemical constituents as per the methods mentioned in Practical pharmacognosy Kokate, 1994.

All extracts of leaves and latex of Calotropisprocera-were screened for acute toxicity, following the standard method (OECD/OCDE No: 425). Albino rats of either sex weighing 180-200gm were used in this study. Animals were maintained on normal diet and water prior to and during the course of experiment. The dose of aqueous, chloroform, ethanol leaves extracts and latex of C. procera were prepared with 1% gum acacia and was administered orally. The acute toxicity was tested at the doses of 300 and 2000mg/kg.

Induction of diabetes in rats

Diabetes was induced in rats by intra peritoneal (i.p) injection of streptozotocin at a dose of 50 mg/kg, dissolved in 0.9% ice-cold saline (Pulok, 2002). Fourtyeight hours after streptozotocin administration, blood samples were drawn from tail and glucose levels determined to confirm diabetes. The diabetic rats exhibiting blood glucose levels higher than 200 mg/dl were selected for the studies. After that, a total of 42 rats were used (36 diabetic surviving rats, 6 control rats) for the execution of the experiment. The rats were divided as follows into seven groups each contain 6 animals and all the doses for oral administration were prepared in 1% gum acacia.

Group I: Normal control (Vehicle treated)

Group II: Diabetic control (Received 0.5 ml of 1% gum acacia)

Group III: Diabetic rats given Glibenclamide 600 μg/kg

Group IV: Diabetic rats given aqueous leaves extracts C. procera200mg/kg b. wt

Group V: Diabetic rats given chloroform leaves extracts C. procera200mg/kg b. wt

Group VI: Diabetic rats given ethanol leaves extracts C. procera200mg/kg b. wt

Group VII: Diabetic rats given latex of C. procera200mg/ kg b. wt

Blood samples were collected from the tail for glucose estimation just before drug administration on the first day and 1 h after drug administration on days 4, 7, 10 and 15. Blood samples were collected and centrifuged at 3000 r.p.m for 10 minutes to separate serum. Biochemical parameters were assessed in method of calorimetric enzymatic using commercial kits (Boehringer Mannheim Diagnostica GmbH, Mannheim, Germany).

All the data are presented as mean ±SEM, n=6. The differences between groups were evaluated by oneway analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by the Dunnette multiple comparisons test. P<0.01 was considered to be significant.

Phytochemical studies indicated that extracts of leaves of C. proceracontains alkaloids, flavanoids, glycosides, saponins and terpenes.

In performing preliminary test for pharmacological activity in rats, aqueous extract did not produce any significant changes in the behavioral or neurological responses up-to 2500 g/kg b. wt. acute toxicity studies revealed the non-toxic nature of the aqueous, chloroform, ethanol leaves extracts and latex of Calotropisprocera.

The Effect of leaves extracts and latex of Calotropisprocera on blood glucose level compared to streptozotocin- induced diabetic rats are presented in Table 1 . Blood glucose levels of the STZ treated rats were significantly higher than those in normal rats. In STZ (50 mg/kg) induced rats, the blood glucose level significantly increased from 92.12±1.45 to 241.3±2.36 mg/dl. Aqueous, chloroform, ethanol leaves extracts and latex of Calotropis procera (200 mg/kg) given up-to 15 days. After aqueous, chloroform, ethanol leaves extracts and latex treatment, the blood glucose levels were decreased from 239.2±1.98 to 168.3±1.65 and 241.5±1.72 to 155.9±1.28, 240.2±2.85 to 156.2±1.85 and 238.9±2.16 to 149.1±1.65 mg/kg respectively. Whereas in glibenclamide treated rats, blood glucose levels were decreased from 240.6±1.52 to 144.2±2.23 mg/kg.

The lipid profiles in control and experimental rats are depicted in Table 2 in STZ induced diabetic rats, there was a significant (p<0.001) increase of total cholesterol, triglycerides, phospholipids, and low density lipoproteins (LDL) and significant (p<0.001) decreases in high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in serum compared with normal control. The extracts-treated rats indicated significantly (p<0.001) decreased total cholesterol, triglycerides, phospholipids and LDL and significantly (p<0.001) increased HDL.

Figure 1 Figure 1

This figure hows the effect of extracts and latex of Calotropis procera on blood glucose level on streptozotocin- induced diabetic rats.