Antioxidant Potency of Aqueous Methanol Extract of Seed of Tamarindus indica for the Management of Streptozotocin- induced Diabetes Mellitus in Rat

In continuation to our previous work the present study has been designed to find out the antioxidant potency of aqueous methanol extract of seed of Tamarindus indica Linn for the management of streptozotocin (STZ)induced diabetes in male rat as diabetes mellitus is closely associated with oxidative stress. Supplementation of this aqueous methanol extract by gavage for 14 days at the dose of 80 mg/0.5 mL olive oil/100 g body weight/day in STZ-induced diabetic rat resulted a significant protection of fasting blood glucose level. Liver and muscle glycogen levels which were decreased significantly in STZ-induced diabetic rat were recovered after supplementation of this extract to STZ-induced diabetic rat. Hexokinase activity in liver was corrected significantly after this extract administration to STZ-induced diabetic rat. Significant elevation was noted in the activities of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (PO), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) in liver, kidney and muscle. Moreover, reduced glutathione level (GSH) was elevated and quantity of malondialdehyde (MDA) and conjugated dienes (CD) were reduced significantly in liver, kidney and muscle after this extract supplementation in respect to diabetic rat. The antioxidant potency of this extract was compared with vitamin E in diabetic condition. Moreover, the capacity of this extract for the management of diabetes in treated rats was compared with standard antidiabetic drug i.e., glibenclamide. The applied dose of this extract has no general metabolic toxicity which has been confirmed by the assessment of glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) and glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) activities. That major ingredients present in aqueous methanol extract are flavonoids and phenolic compounds.