Context: Many plants have been explored scientifically and systematically and claimed to be useful for the treatment of diabetes mellitus by various research groups worldwide. The present study is a further effort in the direction of developing a novel oral antidiabetic agent of high potential with minimal or no side effects.
Objective: This study screened the glycemic attributes of Raphanus sativus L. (Brassicaceae) root juice in normal as well as sub- and mild-diabetic models.
Materials and methods: The variable doses of 100, 200, 300, and 400 mg kg(-1) body weight (bw) of the extract were administered orally to normal and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced sub- and mild-diabetic rats in order to define its glycemic potential. Glibenclamide was used as a reference drug.
Results: The dose of 300 mg kg(-1)bw was identified as the most effective dose which lowers the blood glucose level (BGL) by 33.4% (p < 0.001) at 6 h during fasting blood glucose (FBG) studies in normal rats. However, the glucose tolerance test (GTT) revealed the maximum reduction of 15.9% (p < 0.001) in BGL at 3 h in normal rats with the same dose, whereas the reduction observed was by 23.8 and 28.3% (p < 0.001) in sub- and mild-diabetic rats, respectively, at the same interval of time.
Discussion and conclusion: This evidence clearly indicates that Raphanus sativus root juice possesses good hypoglycemic potential coupled with antidiabetic efficacy.