| Botanical drugs are complementary therapies in the management of diabetes mellitus. In this work, we studied the effects of chronic treatment of diabetic rats with A. indica (neem) on blood glucose, pancreatic islet histopathology, and oxidative status of the pancreas. Fifty-four Wistar rats (5-8 weeks old) were randomly assigned to 5 treatment groups. Hyperglycemia was induced in 34 fasted rats with a single i.p. injection of STZ (70 mg/kg bw/d). Ethanolic extract of A. indica leaves (500 mg/kg bw/d) was given orally to diabetic rats (n=12) for 50d. Glibenclamide was given (p.o) at 600 µg/ kg bw/d. In each group, blood glucose, islet histopathology, and pancreatic oxidative status, were assessed. All hyperglycemic rats in the neem-treated group had become... |
