Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Activities of Cinnamomum tamala Leaf Extracts in Stz-Treated Diabetic Rats

The present study evaluated the anti-hyperglycemic activty of the aqueous extracts of Cinnamomum tamala (CTLEt) leaves on blood glucose of albino rats. CTLEt was administered at doses of 125 and 250 mg/kg body weight respectively on streptozotocin induced diabetic rats for 3 weeks. Diabetic rats had much reduced body weight than normal rats. Administration of the extracts at the dose of 250 mg/kg body wt. /day resulted in a marked decrease in the levels of fasting blood glucose and urine sugar, with a concomitant increase in body weight. The extract also produced a significant decrease in peroxidation products, viz., thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. Reduced glutathione and glycogen content, which had shown significant decrease following induction of diabetes, were found to be increased in the hepatic tissue of STZ-diabetic rats treated with CTLEt. STZ-diabetic rats treated with CTLEt (250mg/kg) significantly reversed all these changes to near normal. Quantification of antioxidants of the leaves-phenols, ascorbate and carotenoids revealed that C.tamala leaves had high antioxidants. These results suggest that CTLEt induce antihyperglycemic as well as antioxidant activities in STZ-diabetic rats.