PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF SOLANUM NIGRUM ON THE BLOOD SUGAR OF ALBINO RATS

In recent times, focus on plant research has increased all over the world and a large body of evidence has collected to show immense potential of medicinal plants used in various traditional systems. Solanum nigrum (commonly called Makoi) is also a medicinal plant. A dietary intake of Solanum nigrum supplies our body with nutrients that offer protection against numerous diseases. All parts of this plant are used in the traditional medicine as a remedy for treating various diseases like, cough, cold, asthma, skin diseases and liver problem. Now a day, Diabetes mellitus has become a real problem of public health in developing countries. This is a metabolic disorder characterized by disarrangements in carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism caused by the complete or relative insufficiency of insulin secretion and /or action. This is due to defective or deficient insulin secretary response. This results into impaired glucose use, which is a characteristic feature of diabetes mellitus i.e. resultant hyperglycemia. Elevated blood glucose level causes dehydration of the tissue cells as glucose does not diffuse easily through the pores of cell membrane and increased osmotic pressure. Present investigation is therefore designed to determine the effect of crude ethanolic extract of S. nigrum on blood sugar of albino rat after daily oral administration of dose at the level of 250mg/kg b. wt. for five and seven days respectively. It was noticed that the chronic administration for longer duration leads to significant decrease in blood sugar compared to control. Thus it can be concluded that Solanum nigrum also has the anti- diabetic property.