A preliminary study of the mechanism of hypoglycaemic activity of Nauclea latifolia leaf ethanolic extract.

The aim of this study was to determine the possible underlying mechanism of the hypoglycaemic activity of the ethanolic extract of Nauclea latifolia leaves in rats. The extract, glibenclamide or water was administered orally in a glucose, sucrose and maltose tolerance tests. In addition, the effect of the extract on α-glucosidase enzymes was also studied. The ethanolic extract at 200mg/kg body weight inhibited the increase in glucose level after both oral and intraperitoneal glucose loads as did glibenclamide. The extract also dose dependently inhibited both maltase and sucrase activities in vitro but not in vivo. The hypoglycaemic effect of N. latifolia leaf ethanolic extract thus appears to be most probably exerted through a mechanism similar to that of glibenclamide which is related to increased insulin release from pancreatic β-cells.