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ABSTRACT
Justicia carnea is a medicinal plant with varied biological and pharmacological activities. In this study, adult Wistar albino rats (n = 36) were divided into six groups: group 1 (normal control), group 2 (diabetic control), group 3 (diabetic rats treated with metformin), group 4 (diabetic rats + 100mg/kg bwt of methanol extract of Justicia carnea), group 5 (diabetic rats + 200mg/kg bwt extract) and group 6 (diabetic rats + 500mg/kg extract). Diabetes mellitus was induced in the rats via intraperitoneal injection of 120 mg/kg body weight STZ. Fasting blood glucose (FBG), body weight, acute toxicity and liver function indices were carried out. Acute toxicity study showed that at the highest dose of 5000 mg/kg bwt, methanol extract of Justicia carnea did not produce any mortality in the rats. Graded doses of methanol extract of Justicia carnea leaves significantly reduced the blood glucose concentration of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats (p < 0.05). The greatest weight increase was observed in group 6 when compared to the other groups (p < 0.05). The plant extract significantly increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentration, but reduced that of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (p < 0.05). It is likely that the plant extract can reverse significantly hepatocyte damage induced by streptozotocin in Wistar rats.
