Antidiabetic and hypolipidemic effects of ethanolic leaf extract of Ziziphus spina-christi on normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

Background: The present study investigated the antidiabetic and hypolipidemic effects of ethanolic leaf extracts of Ziziphus spina-christi grown in Jordan on streptozotosin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Materials and Methods: STZ-induced diabetic Wistar male rats were orally administered 200 mg/kg of 75% Z. spina-christi ethanolic leaf extract daily for two weeks. However, both STZ diabetic control and normal control were subjected to normal saline. Serum was collected from all animal groups. Glucose, insulin, cholesterol and triglycerides were analyzed following commercial diagnostic kits. Results: The Ziziphus extract significantly lowered glucose levels and significantly increased serum insulin levels in diabetic rats compared to the control STZ diabetes rats. Moreover, diabetic animals given Ziziphus extract showed significant reduction of triglycerides compared to both diabetic control and nondiabetic control rats, suggesting that it has a hypolipidemic effect. However, the reduction in cholesterol found in extract-treated diabetic rats was not significant compared to the control group. Conclusion: These findings suggest hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effect of Ziziphus ethanolic extract, and its potential as antidiabetic agent.