ABSTRACT

Diabetes or Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic disorders in which there is a high blood glucose level in the body. It is either due to inadequate insulin production or the inability of the body’s cell to properly respond to insulin. Streptozotocin is a chemical compound that can be used to induce diabetes in experimental animals. It selectively destroys the β-cells of the pancreas, therefore affecting insulin production. The aqueous extract of Cymbopogon citratus is used locally to treat various diseases of which diabetes is inclusive. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of aqueous extract of Cymbopogon citratus on streptozotocin-induced diabetic Wistar rats by monitoring blood glucose concentration, body weight, serum alanine aminotransferase activity and serum aspartate aminotransferase activity.