ABSTRACT
Justicia carnea is a medicinal plant used widely in herbal medicine for the treatment of several ailments such as Diabetes mellitus. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder with significant impact in the wellbeing of humans. The global incident of diabetes mellitus revealed the numbers of adults with diabetes in the world is estimated to rise to 300 million in the year 2025 and this leads to increasing search for better anti-diabetic drugs. In the present study, the effect of justicia carnea on streptozotocin induced DM in wistar rats was evaluated. A total number of 36 wistar rats weighing from 150-200mg were acclimatized for two weeks, and subsequently randomized into six groups, each group consisting of 6 rats. Group 1:Normal control, Group II:(Diabetic control); Group III: diabetic rats treated with standard anti-diabetic drugs (metformin) ;. Group IV; Diabetic rats + 100mg/kg of justicia carnea extract; Group V: Diabetic rats + 200mg/kg of justicia carnea extract; Group VI; Diabetic rats+ 500mg/kg of justicia carnea extract. Plant extract was administered daily for 3 weeks. This investigation demonstrated that there was significant difference between the control group and the treatment groups. For(ALP), The liver function test investigation showed there was no significant difference in the activity of ALP in the controlled group and in the untreated group as well as the treatment group except group 6 which shows no significant difference. ALT activity there was no significant difference between the control group and the treatment group but invariably there was significant difference between the control group and the untreated group. For AST, when the controlled group was compared to untreated group there was significant difference at P<0.05 but when compared to treatment group(3,4 and 6) there was no significant difference except for group 5 that had a slight decrease from normal. For Albumin, when control was compared to untreated group there was no significant difference but when compared to treatment group there was significant difference. Investigation demonstrated in the kidney function test for creatine concentration when group 1 was compared to the other groups(2,3,4,5 and 6) there was significant difference between group 2 and group 6 at P<0.05 but when it was compared to group 3,4 and 5 there was no significant difference. For chloride concentration, there was no significant difference among all group. For sodium concentration, there was significant difference between the control group 2,3 and 4 but there was no significant difference between the control, group 5 and 6. For potassium concentration in the blood, and similar trend of chlorine took place but there was no significant difference at P<0.05. For urea concentration in the blood, there was no viii significant difference between the control and group 5 but there was significant difference between control, group 2,3,4 and 6 at P<0.05. For lipid profile on triglycerol, the control group when compared to group 2,3,4,5 and 6 there was no significant difference. For HDL, there was significant difference between group1,2,3,5 and 6 except for group 4 that showed no significant difference between the control group. For cholesterol concentration in the blood, there was significant difference between the control group and the untreated group, while there was no significant difference between the control group, group 3,4 and 6. For the proximate analysis, it was investigated that the plant extract contains moisture content of 22.12±0.32%,Ash content of 16.97±0.09%, Crude fiber of 11.53±1.07%, Crude fat of 0.23±0.03%, Crude protein of 1.26±0.03%, Carbohydrate of 47.88±1.31%.These findings hints on the general ideology that justicia carnea may be effective in the treatment and management of Diabetes mellitus, hence its usage in ethno-medicine.
