Preliminary hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activities of the aqueous seed extract of Carica papaya Linn. in Wistar rats

The present study investigated the hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic and cardioprotective effects of 100 400 mg/kg/day/oral route of the aqueous seed extract of Carica papaya Linn (CPE) in normal male Wistar rats for 30 days. The rats, weighing between 120 and 150 g which were divided into groups I V of six rats each and were orally administered with 10 ml/kg/day of distilled water, 0.1 mg/kg/day of glibenclamide, 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg/day of extract respectively, for 30 days. In addition, the acute oral toxicity and phytochemical analyses of the extract were conducted. On day 31, after an overnight fast, blood samples were obtained by cardiac puncture under inhaled diethyl ether anesthesia for the determination of the fasting blood glucose (FBS), serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-c), and high density cholesterol (HDL-c). The atherogenic (AI) and coronary artery (CAI) indices were also calculated. Results showed that CPE significantly and progressively (p<0.05, p<0.01 and p<0.001) lowered the FBS, TG, TC, LDL-c, and VLDL-c dose-dependently, while significantly (p<0.05, p<0.01, p<0.001) causing dose-related elevation in HDL-c concentration when compared to the untreated control and glibenclamide treated rats. The extract also significantly (p<0.05, p<0.01 and p<0.001) lowered the AI and CAI indices dose-dependently. The acute oral toxicity showed the extract to be safe. Phytochemical analyses revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, anthraquinones, anthocyanosides and reducing sugars. Thus, lending support to its folkloric use in the management of suspected type 2 diabetic patients.