IOSR Journal of Pharmacy and Biological Sciences (IOSR-JPBS)

ISSN: 2278-3008. Volume 5, Issue 1 (Jan. Feb. 2013), PP 38-41

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Daabs-2r: A Novel Ethnomedicinal Polyherbal Formulation For

The Management Of Diabetes Mellitus.
Amodu B1 , Itodo S.E2
1

Halamin Herbal centre, 10 George Innih Crescent, Apo District, Abuja Nigeria
Department of Histopathology and Cytology, Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) Jos Nigeria

Abstract: Being aware of the Panorama the Continuous use of ineffective pharmaceuticals whose side effects
outweigh the beneficial effects poses on diabetics, it becomes pertinent that halting these side effects associated
with these conceivably orthodox medicaments needs to be a global priority, one of such ways is to return to the
natural products.
This research was aimed at evaluating the efficacy of DAABS-2, a novel ethnomedicinal polyherbal
formulation on Insulin Depended Diabetes mellitus and non Insulin Dependent Diabetes mellitus by using
streptozotocin-induced diabetic laboratory animals and the result showed that the administration of 180mg/kg
and 100mg/kg with the corresponding DAABS-2 extracts decreased blood glucose by 90% compared to the
placebo treated diabetic animals respectively.
Keywords: Natural products, DAABS-2, Streptozotocin, Diabetics, Ethnomedicinal.

I.

Introduction

According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), around 194 million People suffer from
diabetes all over the world. Therefore, it has been classified as a serious problem to public health for it is the
fourth or fifth cause of death in developed countries and an epidemic for developing ones.
Being aware of this Panorama, some researches have been carried out to obtain useful drugs to treat Diabetes,
including plants.
Some curative plants are used empirically as hypoglycemics, such as Dioscorea alata L, Vernonia
amygdalina and zingibir officinale. These are the constituents of DAABS 2
The medicinal uses of the constituents of DAABS 2R are well documented in literature (Dalziel 1937).
Continued use of ineffective pharmaceuticals whose side effects outweigh the beneficial effects not only
contributes to the debilitating state of diabetes but also causes a deafening increase in diabetes-related morbidity
and mortality.
Complementary and alternative (herbal) preparations could prevent a substantial percentage of the deaths each
year from diabetes.
Halting these side effects associated with these conceivably orthodox medicaments needs to be a global
priority, and resources must be focused on those areas of the world where the burden from the disease is
greatest. One of such ways is to return to naturaceuticals, variously tagged; herbal medicines, natural products,
complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) or even traditional medicines
The use of herbal medicine dates back to thousands of years. Although it originated in India and China,
it is widely practiced in Africa. Herbal therapy which started as folk medicine in most developed countries is
becoming increasingly more popular with patients seeking alternative treatment options
Eisenberg et al., (1998) reported that, in developed countries the number of visits to the alternative medicine
practioners is growing rapidly with the number of visits in US was estimated to be 629 million in 1997; it was
believed to have exceeded the number of visits to all primary care physicians.
It is a known fact that, a large proportion of African population uses some form of alternative medicine
and many do not inform their physician about it.
Most patients seek alternative medicine because of lack of basic health facilities, when conventional
therapy has failed or they feel the products have no side effects because they are of natural origin
Herbal therapy has also been used extensively in Nigeria. Although more than 80 percent of the people in both
the underdeveloped and the developed countries depend on herbal medicines for their medical needs
The major problems with herbal medicines in such countries still remains their poor and sometimes unhealthy
presentation.
The most common animal model of human diabetes is streptozotocin(STZ)-induced diabetes in the rat.
This study therefore was carried out to evaluate and provide information on the efficacy of DAAB-2R. Data
generated will form part of the preclinical dossier required by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the
Nigerias food and drug regulatory body, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control
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Daabs-2r: A Novel Ethnomedicinal Polyherbal Formulation For The Management Of Diabetes

(NAFDAC) in phytomedicines development. The information may also be useful in the development of
Nigerias herbal pharmacopoeia.

II.

Materials And Methods

Experimental Animals
Laboratory bred Swiss albino mice of either sex, 6-8 weeks of age, weighing 25-30 g were Obtained from the
National Veterinary Research Institute Vom, plateau state.
The mice were kept in the animal house of the Ben Amodu farm and research centre, Abuja. The
animals were allowed to acclimatize to the environment for 2 weeks before the experiment. They were fed with
commercial feeds pellet and clean water ad-libitum. The cages were cleaned daily. The animals were housed in
a polypropylene cages inside a well ventilated room. Each cage contained not more than 3 rats. They were
maintained under standard laboratory conditions of temperature 24-280C, relative humidity 60-70% and 12
hours light/dark cycle.
Induction Of Diabetes Mellitus
Streptozotocin was obtained from Sigma Chemicals Co., St. Louis, MO, USA.STZ was dissolved in
cold 0.01 M citrate buffer, pH 4.5 and always prepared freshly for immediate use within 5 min. STZ injections
were given intraperitoneally and the doses were determined according to the body weight of animals. The blood
glucose concentration was measured every week from the day of STZ injection. The blood samples were
collected from the tail vein once a week and the blood was deproteinized. The obtained supernatant was used
immediately for the determination of blood glucose by glucose Oxidase/peroxidase method
spectrophotometrically
Experimental Groups And Protocol
The animals were distributed in to five experimental groups. Each group consisted of 8 rats in the
beginning of the study. Animals in group I were intraperitoneally administered single injection of 180 mg/kg of
STZ with 50mg/kg of the DAABS 2 extracts. Animals of group II were intraperitoneally administered a single
injection of 100 mg/kg of STZ with 50mg/kg of the DAABS 2 extracts. Animals of group III were
intraperitoneally administered 180mg/kg of STZ with 50mg/kg of placebo. Animals of group IV were
intraperitoneally administered a single injection of 100mg/kg of STZ with 50mg/kg of placebo. Animals of
group V served as control group were injected with equivalent amount of cold citrate buffer (pH 4.5). All the
doses of STZ were administered at a volume not exceeding 1ml/100 g body weight of mice.
Statistical Analysis
The data were expressed as mean. To obtain comparable results, data of six rats from each group was
used for statistical analysis.

III.

Results

The values of blood glucose concentrations are presented in Table 1&2. All the animals were weighed
weekly and their general conditions were also monitored throughout the experimental duration
Effect Of Single Stz Injection (180 Mg/Kg, I.P.) On Blood Glucose
All the animals develop diabetes mellitus within a week after administration of 180 mg/kg STZ. A
significant rise in blood glucose concentration was observed till 3rd week in comparison with control. By the
completion of 5th week >20% mortality was observed (2 out of 8 animals died) because of which we have
included only the data of six rats survived till the end of the study.
Effect Of Single Stz Injection (100 Mg/Kg, I.P.) On Blood Glucose
None of the animal develops diabetes with STZ 100 mg/kg. Though a insignificant increase in blood
glucose concentration was observed at the 2nd and 3rd week after STZ injection. But the blood glucose
concentrations were far below the threshold value for the animals to be considered as diabetic. No mortality was
observed in this group.

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Daabs-2r: A Novel Ethnomedicinal Polyherbal Formulation For The Management Of Diabetes

Table 1: Blood glucose levels with streptozotocin-induced type 1&2 Diabetes and the extracts in
mice

Time period
STZ 180(n=6)
Blood Glucose Mmol/L
0 day
7.7
Week 1
7.9
Week 2
8.0
Week 3
7.9
Week 4
6.9
Week 5
6.2
P 0.05

STZ 100(n=6)
6.2
6.9
7.0
6.2
5.2
5.0

Control (distilled water)

5.0
5.2
5.2
4.8
4.9
5.0

Table 2: Blood Glucose levels with streptozotocin-induced type 1&2 Diabetes with the
placebo in mice.
Time period
STZ 180 (n=6)
STZ 100(n=6)
Control (distilled water)
Blood Glucose Mmol/L
0 day
28.00
8.00
5.00
Week1
29.95
8.90
5.20
Week 2
34.32
9.98
4.80
Week 3
34.01
9.11
4.90
Week 4
33.46
8.00
5.00
Week 5
34.00
7.72
5.10
P 0.05
IV.

Discussion

Streptozotocin induced diabetes is a well documented model of experimental diabetes. Previous

reported literature indicates that the type of diabetes and characteristics differ with the employed dose of STZ
and animal and species used [4-7]. Streptozotocin induced diabetes provides a relevant example of endogenous
chronic oxidative stress due to the resulting hyperglycemia [16]. STZ is a pancreatic cell toxin that induces
rapid and irreversible necrosis of cells [6]. Whereas a single diabetogenic dose of STZ (70-250mg/kg, body
weight) has been demonstrated to induce complete destruction of cells in most species within24 hour, multiple
sub-diabetogenic doses of STZ partially damage islets, thereby triggering an inflammatory process leading to
macrophage and subsequent lymphocyte infiltration, which is followed by the onset of insulin
deficiency[17,11].
In the present study, we studied the effects of DAABS extracts on streptozotocin-induced diabetes in
mice using two models, one specific for type 1 by administering a single I.P injection of STZ 180mg/kg with
50mg/kg of the extracts, another specific for type II by administering a single I.P injection of STZ 100mg/kg
with 50mg/kg of the extracts.
The table two that was served with placebo showed marked and steady rise in the blood sugar level of
the mice.
Present study results demonstrate that a single i.p injection of STZ 180mg/kg produced diabetes
mellitus in the very first week and the animals remained in that state till 3 rd week similar to the previous study
report in which mice administered 200mg/kg STZ induced a sharp rise with an accompanying marked fall in
serum insulin levels from the first day after STZ administration in mice and produced type 1 or insulin
dependent diabetes mellitus (12). In another development, a single i.p. injection of STZ 180mg/kg with the
DAABS-2 extracts produced no sign of diabetes mellitus at any moment, and it continued throughout the course
of the experiments. This lends credence to the fact that the extracts did indeed halted diabetes mellitus with no
side effects.
Furthermore, this study also reported that mice administered 100mg/kg STZ, non fasting serum glucose
level continued to increase gradually after STZ administration without affecting the non-fasting serum insulindependent diabetes. However, STZ 100mg/kg administered mice failed to produce diabetes mellitus in our
study; this is probably due to the incorporation of the extracts in the mice feeds.
In another development, where the placebo was used, STZ 100mg/kg only produced hyperglycemia in
the 2nd and 3rd week and the blood glucose begin to decline after the 4 th and 5th week and the values were far
below the threshold value (13.89Mmol/L) for the animals to be considered as diabetic. Although this findings
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Daabs-2r: A Novel Ethnomedicinal Polyherbal Formulation For The Management Of Diabetes

are not in agreement with previous other reports (13,14) where STZ 100mg/kg has been reported to produce
type II or non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus and blood glucose concentrations remained high till 9 th week.
Our study however assessed the blood glucose level till 5th week only because it was observed that blood
glucose concentration was abating in 5th week.
In summary, the present study results indicate that single i.p. injection of STZ 180mg/kg and 100mg/kg
with the correspondent extracts produced no diabetes of any form, while the same i.p injection of 180mg/kg and
100mg/kg with the corresponding placebo produced type 1 or insulin dependent diabetes, however, the latter
failed to produce diabetes mellitus. The severity and mortality of diabetes with STZ 180mg/kg is more in
comparison to 100mg/kg. The long-term complications of diabetes mellitus and the characteristics of
progressive diabetes mellitus in the group with the placebo could be studied.

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