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Ethnobotanical
Leaflets 14: 593-98. 2010. Foliar
Epidermal Morphology and Anti-diabetic Property of Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.)Wall ex. Nees *T. R. Fasolaa
, A. E. Ayodelea, A. A. Odetolab, and N. E.
Umotoka a Department of
Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, b Department of
Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine,
University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Ibadan *E-mail: fasolatr@yahoo.com Issued Abstract The
leaf epidermal features and anti diabetic property of Androgragphis paniculata were investigated. The epidermal cells
are polygonal to irregular with curved to undulate anticlinal walls on both
surfaces of the leaf. The leaf is hypostomatic with stomata restricted to the
abaxial surface. Stomata type is axillocytic. The epidermal cells contain
deposits of crystal oxalates while cystoliths are found in a few cells. The
leaf extract was evaluated for hypoglycemic effects. There was significant
hypoglycemic effect in alloxan induced diabetic rats following administration
of the leaf aqueous extract. The result shows that the level of fasting blood
sugar was dependent on the previous level of basal blood sugar in the four
groups of rats used for this study. Treatment of the rats with A. paniculata showed a dose dependent
relationship with the time it took for the blood of the rats to return to the
basal blood sugar levels. The study supports the use of the plant in the
management and treatment of diabetes. Key
words: Andrographis
paniculata; diabetes mellitus, antidiabetic
properties, foliar epidermis. Introduction Andrographis
paniculata (Burm.f.)Wall ex Nees is a small
herbaceous plant of about 30-60m high. It is a member of the family
Acanthaceae. A. paniculata is a
native of The plant is known to be beneficial
following extracorporeal shock lithotripsy [Muangman et al., 1995]. The leaf extract of A. paniculata possesses antiplatelet aggregation [Amroyan et al., 1999], antifertility effect
[Zoha et al., 1989] and uterus
relaxation [Burgos et al.,
2001].The main bioactive component of the plant is known to be a labdane
diterpenoid called Andrographolide (Coon and Ernst, 2004). This study was undertaken to
obtain information on the epidermal features of the leaf and to assess the
hypoglycemic effect of A. paniculata
leaf extract based on ancient reports of this property. Materials
and Methods Plant
material Samples of A. paniculata were collected from Kabba, Kabba Local Government
Area in Epidermal
morphology Fresh leaves were obtained from the
nursery of the Department of Botany and Microbiology, Preparation of the extract Leaves of Andrographis paniculata were collected early in the morning at
about Experimental
animals Thirty healthy Wistar rats (175-250g)
maintained under normal or standard conditions were obtained from the animal
house, Department of Veterinary Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Induction
of diabetes mellitus in the rats with intramuscular alloxan. Ten percent alloxan dissolved in
physiological saline was used to induce diabetes mellitus in the rats. Ten
grammes of fresh sample of alloxan was weighed on a Mettler’s balance and
dissolved in 100ml of 0.15M physiological saline solutions to produce 10%
alloxan. The dose administered was a standard dose of 100mg/kg weight of the
rats. The exact volume of the drug administered was obtained using the
general formula. Volume
to be administered = Weight of animal (g) x Dose of drug (mg/kg)
1000 x Concentration of drug (mg/ml) The rats were divided
into six treatment groups of five rats per group. The first four groups of
rats were given intramuscular injection of 100mg/kg alloxan and Fasting Blood
Sugar (FBS) was checked after 48 hours. The rats with fasting blood sugar
between 100 – 500mg/dl were considered to be diabetic. Effect
of plant extract on the diabetic rats The diabetic rats in each of the four
groups were subsequently treated with different doses of (50mg/kg, 100mg/kg,
200mg/kg and 400mg/kg) of the plant extract twice daily for two weeks. This
was administered orally with the use of oral canula. The fasting blood sugar
was checked every two days by cutting a bit of the rats’ tails for a drop of
blood and dropping the blood on a specified space on the glucometer and the
reading was recorded. The fifth group (nondiabetic, not injected with alloxan
had 400mg/kg of A. paniculata
administered into them and the fasting blood sugar was recorded every two
days for two weeks. The sixth group (control group) was fed with only feeds
with clean water daily and their fasting blood sugar observed every two days
and compared with the fasting blood sugar of the fifth group. Statistical
analysis The results are expressed as MEAN±SEM.
The student’s t test was used to determine the significance of difference
between control and treated groups. The level of significance was taken as p
< 0.05. Results
and Discussion The results of this study are
summarized in Figures 1- 3 and Tables 1-3. Figure 1 shows the habit A. paniculata as grown in the nursery
of the Department of Botany and Microbiology, Table 1 shows the mean
basal blood sugar levels of the four groups of rats and the mean fasting
blood sugar levels after two days as a result of the induction of diabetes
mellitus by intramuscular administration of alloxan. The result shows that
the level of fasting blood sugar was dependent on the previous level of basal
blood sugar in the four groups of rats. Treatment of the rats with A. paniculata showed a dose dependent
relationship with the time it took for the blood of the rats to return to the
basal blood sugar levels (Table 2). The maximum time was observed in Group 1
rats (i.e. those treated with 50mg/kg) which was more than 14 days. This was
followed by Groups 2 and 3 (100 and 200mg/kg respectively). The shortest time
of treatment was observed in the Group 4, those treated with the highest dose
(400mg/kg). The administration of A. paniculata in normal rats showed
that at the end of the two weeks, the mean fasting blood sugar had reduced
from 51.4mg/dl to 42.0mg/dl (Table 3). In summary, the results of this study
support the hypoglycemic properties of Andrographis paniculata as well as confirm the blood sugar reducing. References
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A.C. and Avadhoot, Y. (1991), Hepatoprotective effects of Andrographis
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M.S., Hussain, A.H. and Table 1. The mean values of Fasting Blood Sugar
(mg/dl) of the four groups of rats after injection of alloxan.
Table 2. The effects of administration of
different doses of different doses of A.
paniculata in various groups of diabetic rats on mean values of Fasting
Blood Sugar (mg/dl) taken on alternate days. Alternate days
that Fasting Blood Sugar levels were taken.
Table 3. The mean values of Fasting Blood Sugar
(mg/dl) of Group 5 rats and Group 6 (Control group) rats taken on alternate
days. Alternate days
that Fasting Blood Sugar levels were taken.
Fig. 2:
Adaxial epidermal surface of A.
paniculata.
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