Protective effects of Moringa Oleifera leaves against oxidative stress in diabetic rats

Abstract

Free radicals have been reported in various diabetic complications, therefore this study was undertaken to evaluate the protective effect of Moringa oleifera against oxidative stress in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Induction of diabetes in rats increases serum glucose, cholesterol and triacylglycerol while it reduced superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione (GSH) content and increased malondialdehyde (MDA) level in hepatic and renal tissues. Treatment of diabetic rats with 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg of Moringa oleifera for 7 days significantly lowered serum glucose, cholesterol and triacylglycerol levels. It also increases SOD, CAT activities and GSH level while MDA level was significantly reduced in hepatic and renal tissues when compared with the control diabetic rats. In a separate experiment, Moringa oleifera extract was able to scavenge the 2, 2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2, 2,-azinobis (3-ethylbenzoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) radicals and these radicals scavenging abilities were found to be dose-dependent. The present results indicate that Moringa oleifera possesses antioxidant, hypoglycemic, hypocholesterolemic and hypolipidemic potential. Moringa oleifera was found to contain a high level of total phenolic content (65.90 ± 1.85 mg/g in GAE/g dried weight) which may be responsible for the effectiveness of the plant in the management of diabetic complications.