Effect of Hot Aqueous Extract of Citrullus colocynthis L. Fruit on some Biochemical and Haematological Parameters in Alloxan –Induced Diabetic Rats

The present study deals with the effect of the aqueous extract of Citrullus colocynthis L. fruit on some biochemical and haematological values in alloxan-induced diabetic rats, including: serum glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, total protein, total urea, serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), haemoglobin (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV) and white blood cell (WBC) were determined after oral administration of the extract to diabetic rats in a dose of 300mg/Kg body weight for 3 weeks. A total of 12 rats were involved in this study and were divided into three experimental groups: control, diabetic and C.colocynthis-treated diabetic. It was found that C.colocynthis treatment decrease the elevated serum glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, ALP and ALT in diabetic rats. Other parameters including: total protein, urea, AST, Hb, PCV and WBC were found to be unchanged. It is concluded that oral C. colocynthis treatment might normalize some abnormal biochemical parameters in diabetic rats but it has no effect on the haematological parameters.