In–Vitro Drug Interaction between Tulsi and Glimepride

The study was designed to determine the interaction of O. sanctum, an herbal drug used in many herbal formulations for hypoglycemic activity with Glimepiride, a sulfonylurea (SU) derivative, widely used in the treatment of type-2 diabetes, in diabetic rats. Whole study was divided into four phases in which hypoglycaemic activity with single doses of O. sanctum and glimeperide was established in single day study and repeated dose treatment of O. sanctum (7 days) followed by a single dose of glimeperide on 8th day was also established. Further the interaction between the two drugs was studied in both single and repeated treatment, i.e., the effect of single and glimeperide repeated doses treatment on O. sanctum. All the results were analysed by one way ANOVA followed by Dunnett's‘t' test. Rats were administered with streptozotocin for inducing diabetes and left for 2 weeks to stabilize blood glucose levels. Various doses of O. sanctum (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg) and glimeperide (½ TD, TD and 2 TD) upon single dose treatment of each in different groups of diabetic rats produced a dose dependent decrease in blood glucose levels. The maximum reduction in serum glucose was observed at 6 th h in all the groups. Single dose of O. sanctum prolonged the effect of glimepiride from 4th to 6th h without any hypoglycemic convulsions.