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ABSTRACT
Cymbopogon citratus (popularly known as lemongrass) has been in used in multiple parts of Nigeria as an antioxidant in the preservation of cell health and popularly in the production of herbal tea. The present study was aimed at investigating the effect of extracts of Cymbopogon citratus on normal and streptozotocin–induced (STZ–induced) diabetic rats. Biochemical studies were carried out to determine the diabetic and oxidative statuses by measuring body weight, fasting blood glucose levels, and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in the pancreas. Rats in the diabetic groups were induced with diabetes by intraperitoneally injecting them with STZ at a single dose of 45mg/kg body weight before the oral administration of aqueous extract of lemongrass at a dose of 400 mg/kg body weight to rats in the treated groups for 21 days. Relative to NC rats, the extract caused a significant decrease (P<0.05) in final blood glucose (FBG) in NT rats. STZ injection caused a significant increase (P<0.05) in FBG in the DC rats compared to the NC rats. An increase in FBG was observed in DT rats compared to DC rats, but it was not statistically different (P>0.05). Relative to the normal control (NC) rats, results indicated that the extract caused an insignificant decrease (P>0.05) in body weight in the normal treated (NT) rats. STZ injection caused a significant decrease (P<0.05) in the diabetic control (DC) rats compared to NC rats. Weight gained by diabetic treated (DT) rats was not statistically different (P>0.05) compared to DC rats. SOD and catalase activities in pancreatic tissues of the NT and DT rats were not statistically different (P>0.05) compared to NC and DC. This was because the SOD and catalase activities of the four groups were statistically similar (P>0.05). The present study indicated that the aqueous lemongrass extract was ineffective against STZ–induced diabetes. Findings in this study showed that this plant did not significantly (P<0.05) increase body weight nor decrease blood glucose levels in the diabetic rats. However, it caused hypoglycemia in the normal rats. No oxidative damage to the pancreas was exerted by the aqueous lemongrass extract.
