Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder affecting carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism that affects nearly 10% of the population every year. The treatment of diabetes mellitus has been confined to use of oral hypoglycemic agents and insulin, the former being reported to possess serious side effects. This leads to increasing demand for herbal products with antidiabetic factor with little side effects. Free radicals have been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus leading to various complications including atherosclerosis. The present study was designed to investigate the antidiabetic and antioxidant effects of ethanolic extract of Geniosporum Prostratum (GPEt). Type ??? diabetes was induced in rats by injection of streptozotocin (STZ) in a dose of 60 mg/kg bwt, i.p. for 3 consecutive days. GPEt was administered orally at a doses of 100, and 200 mg/kg of body weight for 21 day, after which liver tissue was assayed for the degree of lipid peroxidation by means of markers, lipid peroxidation, reduced glutathione content and activities of catalase, and superoxide dismutase. Treatment of diabetic rats with GPEt increased the antioxidant levels with significant decrease in LPO. GPEt at a dose of 200 mg/kg of body weight exhibited a significant effect as compared with 100 mg/kg of body weight. These effects were compared with glibenclamide, a reference drug.
