The prevalence of diabetes is strongly associated with a sedentary lifestyle and high calorie- nutrition and obesity

Fisetin, a tetrahydroxy flavone is found to be present in appreciable amounts in strawberries, onion, apple, cucumber and persimmon is known for its potential antioxidant properties. Flavonoids are useful in the treatment of free radical mediated as well as other diseases. The present study was hypothesized to evaluate the hypoglycemic efficacy of fisetin in streptozotocin (STZ) induced experimental diabetes in rats. The diabetic rats orally treated with fisetin ( 10 mg/kg b.w/day) for 30 days resulted in significant ( p < 0.05) decrease in the levels of blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, blood urea, serum uric acid, serum creatinine and diminished activities of pathophysiological enzymes such as aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). The levels of plasma insulin, C peptide and hemoglobin were increased in diabetic rats treated with fisetin. The results are comparable with glyclazide, an oral standard hypoglycemic drug. The present findings indicate that fisetin could be considered as an effective therapeutic agent and /or adjunct for the treatment of diabetes mellitus.