Background: Nasturtium officinale R. Br. (N. officinale) is a traditional herbal medicine used for treatment of several diseases including diabetes. But yet, no controlled study has determined its efficacy in hyperglycemic condition.
Objectives: The present study was to evaluate the effect of different doses of N. officinale of different solvent extract on rat blood glucose.
Methods: 270 Wistar male rats with 200-250 g weight were selected and caged in same environmental condition. Diabetes was induced by 50mg/kg streptozocin intraperitoneal (ip) injection. After 15 days the rats with fasting blood sugar (FBS) above 200 mg/dl were selected and randomly divided into 27 groups of 10 rats each. The ethyl acetate, methanol and aqueous extracts of N. officinale in different doses were administered orally for 8 weeks. Fasting blood glucose was determined at the end of the study.
Results: The LD50 for ethyl acetate, methanol and aqueous extracts were 1000, 3000, and 3000 mg/kg respectively. The fasting blood glucose reduced significantly (p=0.030) in N. officinale ethyl acetate extract treated group in the doses of 100, 200, 400, and 600 mg/kg as compared to control group. Fasting blood glucose level in methanol and aqueous extracts of N. officinale treated groups were not significantly changed as compared to control group.
Conclusion: Ethyl acetate extract of N. officinale showed antihyperglycemic effect in diabetic rats.