Evaluation of Safety of Stewart’s Wood Fern (Dryopteris stewartii) and Its Anti-Hyperglycemic Potential in Alloxan-Induced Diabetic Mice |
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Authors: | Uzma Hanif Chand Raza Iram Liaqat Maryam Rani Sherif M. Afifi Tuba Esatbeyoglu Saraj Bahadur Sara Shahid |
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Affiliation: | 1.Department of Botany, Government College University, Lahore 54000, Pakistan;2.Department of Zoology, Government College University, Lahore 54000, Pakistan;3.Pharmacognosy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sadat City, Sadat City 32897, Egypt;4.Institute of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University of Hannover, Am Kleinen Felde 30, 30167 Hannover, Germany;5.College of Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China |
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Abstract: | Diabetes has become a critical challenge to the global health concerns. Cytotoxicity and development of resistance against available drugs for management of diabetes have shifted the focus of global scientific researchers from synthetic to herbal medications. Therefore, the current study was conducted to investigate the possible anti-hyperglycemic potential of Dryopteris stewartii using Swiss albino mice. To evaluate any possible toxic effect of the plant, acute oral toxicity test was performed while the anti-diabetic effects of aqueous and ethanol extracts at 500 mg/kg, positive, negative and normal control were assessed simultaneously. The anti-diabetic study revealed that aqueous extract has higher anti-diabetic potential than ethanol extract while lowered blood glucose level at second week reaching 150 mg/dL, exerting stronger anti-diabetic effects, compared to ethanol extract (190 mg/dL). Oral glucose tolerance findings revealed that aqueous extract decreased blood glucose level by −0.41-fold, compared to ethanol extract showing a decrease by only −0.29-folds. The histopathological evaluation of liver and pancreas of all groups revealed normal cell architecture with no morphological abnormalities. These results suggested the possible use of D. stewartii as anti-diabetic herbal drug in near future. However, these recommendations are conditioned by deep mechanistic studies. |
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Keywords: | anti-diabetic diabetes mellitus ethnomedicine in vivo metabolic disorder toxicity |
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