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Vol.3 , No. 4, Publication Date: Aug. 29, 2017, Page: 23-29
 Leaf Methanol Extract and Snail Slime on Alloxan Induced White Swiss Albino Rat&description=The wisdom of traditional knowledge of medicinal plants is a great potential for research and discovery of new drugs to fight modern diseases like diabetes. In Nigeria, <i>Costus afer</i> is a medicinal plant with many uses which widely covers the treatment and management of many ailments. In this study, some physicochemical, toxicity and anti-diabetic effects of snail slime and <i>Costus afer</i> leaf methanol extract on fasting blood glucose level of a Swiss albino rat was investigated. Moreso, the work of “[3]” gave support to the current study of the <i>Costus afer</i> leaf methanol extract and snail slime on alloxan induced white Swiss albino rat investigated for 21 days on oral administration of the extract. The solubility status of the snail slime was evaluated using different organic solvents, mineral acids and alkalis. The preliminary phytochemical screening of methanol, acetone, and water extracts of the <i>Costus afer</i> leaves was conducted with indication of the presence of alkaloid, phenol, flavonoid, cardenoloids, carbohydrate, saponin and cardiac glycosides. The result showed that the <i>Costus afer</i> leaf methanol extract and snail slime were non-toxic to mice in sub-acute and acute dose of 5000 mg/kg. The blood glucose lowering effect was investigated for <i>C. afer</i> and snail slime at grade doses of 100mg/kg and 300mg/kg body weight of the rat for 21 days oral administration. There was blood glucose reduction for all doses of <i>C. afer</i>, Snail slime and the standard hypoglycemic drug (Glibenclamide, 5 mg/kg) investigated. This result approves the reported mechanisms of “[7], [8], [19]” whereby some herbal anti-diabetic remedies reduces blood glucose levels are more or less similar to those of synthetic oral hypoglycemic drugs like metformin and sulfonylurea etc. Still to that, medicinal and pharmacological activities of medicinal plants are often attributed to the presence of the so called secondary plant metabolites “[10, [13]”. Our preliminary findings may further lend support that the snail slime in both acid and alkaline medium which proves slightly soluble, may go a long way to act as a carrier of chemical and biological materials for use as nanoparticles in medical and pharmaceutical formulated drugs.&picture=http://www.aascit.org/aascit/decorators/img/journal/978.jpg)
| [1] | Jeff Tsware Barminas, Department of Chemistry, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Nigeria. |
| [2] | Agu Matthew Onyema, Department of Science Laboratory Technology (Chemistry Unit), Federal Polytechnic, Bali, Nigeria. |
| [3] | Jude Chinedu Onwuka, Department of Chemistry, Federal University, Lafia, Nigeria. |
| [4] | Ukwubile Cletus Anes, Department of Science Laboratory Technology (Biology Unit), Federal Polytechnic, Bali, Nigeria. |
The wisdom of traditional knowledge of medicinal plants is a great potential for research and discovery of new drugs to fight modern diseases like diabetes. In Nigeria, Costus afer is a medicinal plant with many uses which widely covers the treatment and management of many ailments. In this study, some physicochemical, toxicity and anti-diabetic effects of snail slime and Costus afer leaf methanol extract on fasting blood glucose level of a Swiss albino rat was investigated. Moreso, the work of “[3]” gave support to the current study of the Costus afer leaf methanol extract and snail slime on alloxan induced white Swiss albino rat investigated for 21 days on oral administration of the extract. The solubility status of the snail slime was evaluated using different organic solvents, mineral acids and alkalis. The preliminary phytochemical screening of methanol, acetone, and water extracts of the Costus afer leaves was conducted with indication of the presence of alkaloid, phenol, flavonoid, cardenoloids, carbohydrate, saponin and cardiac glycosides. The result showed that the Costus afer leaf methanol extract and snail slime were non-toxic to mice in sub-acute and acute dose of 5000 mg/kg. The blood glucose lowering effect was investigated for C. afer and snail slime at grade doses of 100mg/kg and 300mg/kg body weight of the rat for 21 days oral administration. There was blood glucose reduction for all doses of C. afer, Snail slime and the standard hypoglycemic drug (Glibenclamide, 5 mg/kg) investigated. This result approves the reported mechanisms of “[7], [8], [19]” whereby some herbal anti-diabetic remedies reduces blood glucose levels are more or less similar to those of synthetic oral hypoglycemic drugs like metformin and sulfonylurea etc. Still to that, medicinal and pharmacological activities of medicinal plants are often attributed to the presence of the so called secondary plant metabolites “[10, [13]”. Our preliminary findings may further lend support that the snail slime in both acid and alkaline medium which proves slightly soluble, may go a long way to act as a carrier of chemical and biological materials for use as nanoparticles in medical and pharmaceutical formulated drugs.
Keywords
Hypoglycemia, Snail Slime, Antidiabetic, Costus afer, Swiss Albino Rat, Glibenclamide
Reference
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