Antioxidant effects of Gongronema latifolium in hepatocytes of rat models of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus

Gongronema latifolium is a rainforest plant, which has been traditionally used in the South Eastern part of Nigeria for the management of diabetes. The effects of oral administration of aqueous and ethanolic G. latifolium leaf extracts for 2 weeks on streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were investigated. Both extracts were shown to significantly increase the activity of superoxide dismutase and the level of reduced glutathione. The aqueous extract further increased the activity of glutathione reductase while the ethanolic extract caused a significant increase in the activity of glutathione peroxidase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and a significant decrease in lipid peroxidation. These results suggest that the extracts from G. latifolium leaves could exert their antidiabetic activities through their antioxidant properties. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.