Antidiabetic and antidiarrhoeal potentials of ethanolic extracts of aerial parts of Cynodon dactylon Pers

Abstract Objective To explore the antidiabetic and the antidiarrhoeal effects of ethanolic extracts of Cynodon dactylon Pers. aerial parts (EECA) in Wistar rats. Methods To assess the antidiabetic activity of EECA, oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) model and alloxan induced diabetic test (AIDT) model were performed. The EECA was used at the doses of 2 g/kg, 1 g/kg and 500 mg/kg body weight in OGTT model and 1.5 g/kg was used for AIDT model. Castor oil-induced diarrhoeal model and gastrointestinal motility test with barium sulphate milk model were performed for evaluating the antidiarrhoeal effects at doses of 1 g/kg, 750 mg/kg respectively. Results The dose 2 g/kg in OGTT and 1.5 g/kg in AIDT model blood glucose levels decreased significantly ( P P P Conclusions It is concluded that EECA contains both antidiabetic and the antidiarrhoeal properties.