Effects of Aqueous Leaf Extract of Passiflora suberosa L. on Blood Glucose Levels of Male Mice

Extracts of the genes Passiflora has been shown to compromises a therapeutic value tocontrol glycemia and lipid levels. Raw leaves of Passiflora suberosa L. (Family:Passifloraceae) is used as a traditional remedy to manage diabetes. Yet, its ethnomedicalusage is not scientifically proven. The present study was conducted to examine thehypoglyceamic effect of the aqueous leaf extract (ALE) of P. suberosa, using normoglycemicmale mice. ALE was prepared and mice (n=9/group), were treated with 25, 50, 100, 200mg/kg ALE and distilled water (DW; control). Fasting and random blood glucose levels weredetermined at 1st, 3rd and 5th h post-treatment. Acute administration of 50 mg/kg of ALEsignificantly (p<0.01) reduced fasting blood glucose levels (BGL) by 10%, 20% and 24%respectively at 1st, 3rd and 5th h post treatment. Similarly, 100 mg/kg of ALE significantly(p<0.01) reduced fasting BGL at 3rd (24%) and 5th (29%) h post treatment. However, it didnot change the random BGL in non-fasted mice. To evaluate the chronic effect of ALE, 18mice (n=9) were treated orally either with 50 mg/kg of ALE or DW for 30 consecutive daysand on day 31, fasting BGL was measured after 1,3 and 5 hrs. A significant reduction infasting BGL was observed, at 1st (17%), 3rd (18%) and 5th (27%) h respectively. The samedose showed a significant (p<0.01) improvement in sucrose tolerance test (18%) after 5hours. However, ALE did not show a significant improvement in glucose tolerance testfollowing an oral glucose challenge. The findings from this study provide evidences forethnomedical usage of P. suberosa as an anti-diabetic agent in the traditional Sri Lankanmedicinal system.Keywords: Passiflora suberosa, Aqueous leaf extract, Hypoglycemia, Blood glucose leve