Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease caused by inherited and acquired deficiency in production of insulin by the pancreas, or by ineffectiveness of insulin produced, such a deficiency results in increased concentration of glucose in the blood, which in turn damages many of the body’s systems in particular the blood vessels and nerves. Euphorbia hirta Linn (Euphorbiaceae) is commonly used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases. The present study was carried out to evaluate the anti-diabetic effect of ethanolic extract of Euphorbia hirta Linn using various animal screening models. The ethanolic extract of Euphorbia hirta showed a significant hypoglycemic effect in the alloxan-induced diabetic rats. This laid the foundation to study the active compounds of such anti-diabetic plants that are responsible for the hypoglycemic activities.
