IN VITRO ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY, DIURETIC AND HYPOGLYCEMIC ACTIVITIES OF ETHANOL EXTRACT FROM LEAF OF CHRYSOPHYLLUM ALBIDUM G. IN WISTAR ABINO RATS

Chrysophyllum albidum G. is generally regarded as a plant with many ethno-medicinal uses. The study was aimed at evaluating the in vitro antioxidant, diuretic, and hypoglycemic properties of the ethanol extract of leaves of C. albidum Male Wistar albino rats weighing between 150g and 200g were used for the experiment. The DPPH scavenging activity was determined using DPPH assay, inhibition of lipid peroxidation was carried out using the reactions of peroxides with thiobarbituric acid, while nitric oxide was conducted based on the Greiss reaction. Diuretic activity was carried out using the method of Lipschitz with slight modifications. Alloxan (140 mg/kg) was used to induce diabetes in the rats. The extract showed a concentration-dependent increase in DPPH radical scavenging activity, anti-lipid peroxidation activity, and nitric oxide inhibition activity maximal at 200 mg/ml (84.99±7.97, 79.82±6.10, 69.99±2.22 respectively) and this was significant (p<0.05) when compared with that of 100 mg/ml of vitamin C (97.68±0.84, 99.05±0.24 and 98.15±0.29 respectively) which served as the control. The extract also significantly (p<0.05) increased; urine volume, urinary sodium, and urinary chloride particularly at 2000 mg/kg (1.55±0.07, 109.60±0.57, and 106.00±1.41 respectively) when compared with the standard drug (1.85±0.07, 115.20±0.57, and 112.85±0.49 respectively). The increase in potassium excretion was also significant (p<0.05) particularly at 2000 mg/kg (13.70±0.28) but less than those of sodium (109.60±0.57) and chloride (106.00±1.41) at the same concentration. There was no significant (p<0.05) increase in urinary bicarbonate the maximum being at 250 mg/kg (22.55±0.78). The extract caused a non-significant (p<0.05) decrease in the fasting blood glucose level of the rats. It was concluded that the leaves of C. albidum could be used as a source of natural antioxidant boosters and also a diuretic.