Effect of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) on experimentally induced diabetes mellitus in male rabbits

The study was conducted to investigate the effect of orally administered fenugreek on some biochemical parameters in diabetic male rabbits experimentally induced by intraperitoneal injection of alloxan monohydrate 75 mg/kg. Twenty-five male local breed rabbits were divided into 5 equal groups; G1 normal control group, G2 diabetic non-herb treated, G3 normal rabbit treated with the herb. While each of G4 and G5 was diabetic rabbits treated with 2 and 3g/day single oral dose of fenugreek for 30 consecutive days respectively. A blood sample was taken at zero-day, 2 weeks and 4 weeks for estimation of serum glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, ALT, and AST. At the end of the experiment, animals were sacrificed in order to prepare liver tissue homogenate to calculate the level of Malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) to explore the role of fenugreek as an antioxidant herb. Results were revealed an increase in serum glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, ALT, AST, and MDA level and reduced glutathione level in G2. While, oral administration of fenugreek showed a significant reduction in total lipids and serum sugar in diabetic rabbits and have no any adverse effect on the main parameters of the body, the herb play a great role as an antioxidant factor as indicated by increasing GSH level and reduce MDA level