Anti-Hyperglycemic and Lipid Lowering Activity of Trigonella foenum-graecum (Linn.) Leaves

Objective: Trigonella foenum-graecum (Linn.) (T foenum-graecum) belonging to family Fabaceae collected from southern Odisha was aimed to appraise the anti-hyperglycemic and lipid lowering activity of ethanolic leaf extract (200 and 400 mg/kg b.w.) by two different models for Antidiabetic activity screening viz. Alloxan induced and Streptozotocin-Nicotinamide (STZ-NA) induced diabetic models and Triton (WR 1339) induced hyperlipidemic model in rats.Method: The Antidiabetic activity of the extract was compared with standard drug Metformin (11.3 mg/kg of b.w.; p.o) and Gliclazide (25 mg/kg of b.w.; p.o) for Alloxan induced and Streptozotocin-Nicotinamide (STZ-NA) induced diabetic models respectively and Atorvastatin (7.2 mg/kg of b.w.; p.o) for Triton (WR 1339) induced hyperlipidemic model. The Blood glucose (GOD/POD method) and other biochemical parameters like total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels were estimated and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol were calculated.Results: Treatment with T foenum graecum (400 mg/kg) to alloxan treated rats for 10 days significantly (p<0.001) attenuated the blood glucose level (141.30 ± 11.56 mg/dl) of test animals when compared to alloxan control (293.16 ± 7.32 mg/dl). Similarly, in STZ-NA induced diabetic model, significant (p<0.001) reduction in blood glucose level (152.61 ± 6.83 mg/dl) in test animals were observed, following the treatment of T foenum graecum (400 mg/kg) for 28 days. In Triton (WR 1339) induced hyperlipidemia (48 hour model), T foenum graecum (400 mg/kg) treatment exhibited significant (p<0.001) attenuation in serum total cholesterol (70.92 ± 3.46 mg/dl), triglyceride (125.67 ± 6.54 mg/dl) and LDL (10.42 ± 6.77 mg/dl) with significant (p<0.05) elevation in serum HDL (35.36 ± 5.32 mg/dl) levels. Statistical significance of data was assessed by One-way ANOVA followed with Tukey-Kramer Multiple comparison between different groups. The data obtained from the study suggested, the anti-diabetic and lipid lowering activities of T foenum graecum (Linn.) leaves.