Background: Diabetes mellitus is one of the metabolic diseases known all over the world. This syndrome features symptoms like hyperglycaemia, oxidative stress, and associated organ dysfunctions. Moringa oleifera is a commonly known medicinal plant explored by many for its healing activities. This study seeks to find out the comparative effects of the aqueous root and leaf extracts of M. oleifera on some biochemical, haematological, and gut microbiota parameters in alloxan-induced diabetic Wistar rats.
Methods: About thirty-six (36) adult Wistar rats were used in the study. These rats were randomly divided into six (6) groups, viz the normal control, diabetic control, diabetic treated with leaf extract, diabetic treated with root extract, diabetic treated with both leaf and root extracts, and diabetic treated with metformin, the standard drug. 150 mg/kg body weight of alloxan monohydrate was intraperitoneally given to the rats to induce diabetes. The experimental rats were exposed to treatments orally for 21 days. The study adopted standard methods for the estimation of the biochemical and haematological parameters, including fasting blood glucose, lipid profile, liver enzyme activities. Faecal sampling and culture-based methods were used to estimate the gut microbiota composition.
Results: The results of the study show that both the extracts from the leaves and roots of M. oleifera lowered blood glucose levels and lipid profile status at p < 0.05 level of significance. Similarly, the haematological and antioxidant parameters were normalised compared with diabetic controls, with the leaf extract exhibiting moderately higher potency. The results of the gut microbiota analysis showed that both the leaf and root extracts of M. oleifera exerted the modulation of bacterial diversity, reduction of pathogenic taxa and enrichment of beneficial commensals, with the combined extract showing synergistic effects.
Conclusion: The findings revealed that the leaf and root extracts of M. oleifera exert potent blood-sugar lowering and microbiota-modulating effects, hence support their use as a complementary therapeutic agent for the management of diabetes mellitus.
Moringa oleifera, diabetes mellitus, biochemical parameters, haematological parameters, gut microbiota
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