Lepidium sativum is widely accepted in folkloric medicine to be effective in the treatment of diabetic mellitus among
the Hausa dwellers in Jos North Local Area of Plateau State, Nigeria yet, there was no scientific evidence to support
this claim. This study was carried out to evaluate some biochemical and haematological parameters that could be
used to determine the antidiabetic activity of the aqueous extract of Lepidium sativum whole plant in both normal and
streptozocin-induced diabetic rats. After the safety of the plant was established using LD50, Streptozotocin-induced
diabetic and non-diabetic rats were administered with aqueous extract of the whole plant at 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/
kg body weight through intragastric tube for four weeks. There was a statistically significant (p<0.05) reduction
in the level of blood glucose of the rats as compared to the normal control after administration with respect to the
biochemical and hematological parameters analysed. The results from this study suggest that the aqueous extract of
the whole plant possesses some hypoglycemic properties and could have potential to be used as antidiabetic.
