Effect of Egyptian Radish and Clover Sprouts on Blood Sugar and Lipid Metabolisms in Diabetic Rats

No information is available about the effect of Egyptian radish (Raphanus sativus) and clover (Trifolium alexandrinum), sprouts (ERS and ECS) on diabetic animals. To clarify the effects, the influence of ERS and ECS on blood sugar and lipid metabolisms was investigated in normal and streptozotocin-induced (STZ) diabetic rats. Rats were fed a semi-modified diet containing 10% of ERS or ECS ad-libitum for 6 weeks. Diabetic rats showed significant increase in the levels of blood glucose, triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol, (TC), LDL-c; and VLDL-c. The addition of ERS or ECS at 10% to diabetic rats diet as semi-modified diet resulted in significant decrease in blood glucose, TG, TC, LDL-c and VLDL-c without changes in the HDL-c parameter. Histopathological examination of pancreas tissues revealed significant changes attributable to the STZinduced diabetic rats, while ERS and ECS semi-modified diet rats showed recovery of STZ effects on pancreas tissues. These results showed that ERS and ECS had a hypoglycemic activity in diabetic rats and partly improved lipid metabolism in the experimental animals. ERS and ECS have the potential to alleviate hyperglycemia in cases where diabetes is present and to serve in the primary prevention of diabetes mellitus. Also ERS and ECS semimodified diet appears to be essentially and non-toxic in doses given to rats in this study over 6 weeks period.