Antihyperglycemic and antihyperlipidemic effects of hydroalcoholic extract of Melissa officinalis (Lemon Balm) in alloxan-induced diabetic rats

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder of the endocrine system leading to increased blood glucose concentration in the patients. As a basic treatment for managing the blood glucose level, insulin or hypoglycemic medications are used but herbal medicines are more favored. The design of this research project was to study the therapeutic effect of hydroalcoholic extract of Melissa officinalis (HEMO) in diabetic rats. Methods: Twenty-five Wistar male rats weighing 220&plusmn;25 grams were distributed semi-randomly into five groups of five each. Group 1 and 2 was respectively the control and diabetic animals. Group 3, 4 and 5 were the diabetic animals treated with HEMO either at 20, 100 or 500 mg/Kg of body weight. To induce diabetic rat models, each animals received a single intraperitoneal injection of alloxan at the dose of 120 mg/Kg. All treatments with HEMO performed daily via gavage for a period of 4 weeks. Then, blood samples were collected from all animals to measure the blood glucose level, cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL and HDL. Results: The results of this study indicated significant (P<0.05) decreases in blood sugar level, cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL in diabetic rats treated with HEMO. In addition, significant (P<0.05) increase in HDL level was observed in HEMO treated diabetic rats compared with the non-treated ones. Conclusion: HEMO has significant effects on attenuating the blood sugar level, serum lipids and lipoproteins levels, whereas it improves the HDL level. These effect might be attributed to the antioxidant benefits of flavonoids which are present in HEMO.