Hypoglycemic, Hematologic and Hypolipidemic Potential of Hippophae rhamnoides (Berry Oil) in Alloxan-induced Diabetic Rats

This study was carried out to evaluate the hypoglycemic, hematologic and hypolipidemic potential of berry oil in alloxan-induced adult Wistar rat. Five groups of Wistar rats (4 rats per group) Group 1 served as “Normal control” rats and received normal rat pellets and water. Diabetes mellitus was induced in Groups 2, 3, 4, and 5 by intraperitoneal injection of alloxan (160 mg/kg). Group 3 rats were treated with glibenclamide (5 mg/kg body weight), groups 4 and 5 received 500 mg/kg and 1000 mg/kg body weight of Berry oil daily respectively for 21 days via oral gavage. Group 2 rats served as the “Negative control”. The blood glucose levels was determined using the Accu-ChekR test strip method. The rats were sacrificed on the 22nd day and plasma lipids were determined using appropriate assay kits as per manufacturer’s protocol. Red blood cell (RBC) counts, packed cell volume (PCV), and haemoglobin values were all significantly raised (P<0.05) in treated rats, while the increased White Blood Cell (WBC) value in diabetic rats was lowered. The elevated total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol LDL-C and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol VLDL-C in diabetic rats were significantly (P<0 .05) lowered by all doses of Berry oil while the lowered HDL-C was raised. The findings from this study suggest that Berry Oil demonstrated potent hypoglycemic, hematologic and hypolipidemic properties and could be valuable in the treatment and management of diabetes mellitus.