Plants have been used as food, medicine, and other uses by human beings since prehistoric times. They are the source of many important drugs used today in treating various diseases such as diabetes mellitus. The medicinal use of plants is known as herbal medicine or phytotherapy. Plants contain many bioactive compounds that can be used to treat diseases.
This article focuses on Avocado Leaf Extract (Aka P. americana), a plant that has the potential for use in diabetes treatment.
Introduction
Diabetes is a chronic disease in which the body either produces no insulin or not enough to overcome the resistance (1). It occurs when a person's blood glucose concentration is too high due to an impaired ability to produce and release insulin. If you are living in a country where obesity and hypertension run high, diabetes will be your company sooner or later. In this study, a potential plant for diabetes treatment will be discussed and after investigating the factors involved in the experiment, a comprehensive conclusion is formed.
The leaves of the avocado tree have been used as a traditional medicine in the treatment of diabetes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antidiabetic potential of P. americana (avocado leaf) extract on Wistar rats and its possible mechanism of action.
Methodology of the Study
Te avocado tree is a fruit tree native to Mexico that has been used in traditional medicine as a treatment for diabetes mellitus. This study investigated the antidiabetic activity of the avocado trees leaf, bark, root, and stone extracts.
In this experiment, type 2 diabetic rats were treated with either aqueous (water-based) or ethanolic (ethanol-based), or methanolic (methanol-based) leaf extracts for 28 days. The treatments were well tolerated and induced restoration of T-CHOL and HDL-C levels compared to the control group. All three types of extract were able to lower blood glucose levels at day 28 of treatment, with the greatest effect seen in rats treated with the methanolic extract. The treatments were also effective at preventing intestinal glucose uptake in rats—methanolic extract reduced intestinal uptake by up to 60%.
These results indicate that Persea americana (avocado leaf) may have the potential as an antidiabetic agent. However, further studies are needed to determine which molecules are responsible for this activity and how they work together to produce the positive effects observed here.
Discussion and Conclusion
The results of this study showed that the aqueous, ethanolic and methanolic leaf extracts of Persea americana possess significant antidiabetic activity in type 2 diabetic rats. In addition to the above, the present study also revealed that the methanolic extract of P. americana had the highest antidiabetic activity when compared with its ethanol and aqueous counterparts. This result is in agreement with previous reports that have indicated that polyphenols are more effective than other classes of phytochemicals as antihyperglycemic agents.
The potential antihyperglycemic effect observed for P. americana could be attributed to its ability to inhibit oxidative stress, improve HDL-C levels, decrease serum glucose levels, modulate lipid profile and augment antioxidant enzyme activities.
In conclusion, the results obtained from this study suggest that P. americana can be used as an alternative source of natural products for diabetes treatment due to its potent antioxidant properties which may be useful in managing diabetes mellitus associated complications such as cardiovascular disease, neuropathy, and retinopathy among others.
