Antioxidant Property and Oral Glucose Tolerance of Stem Extract of Andrographis paniculata – Nees

This research aims to investigate the antioxidant property and oral glucose tolerance of stem extract of Andrographis paniculata using standard methods. The antioxidant activity of the extracts were assessed using total phenol, total flavonoid, ABTS (2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)), nitric oxide, GSH (gluthatione), super oxide, DPPH [1,1-di-phenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl] and ascorbic acid. The oral glucose tolerance of methanol stem extract of A. paniculata was carried out using wistar albino rats. The Wistar albino rats were divided into six groups consisting of five rats each. Group 1 was given water only, group two to group five were induced with 2g/kg of glucose. After 30 minutes, group 3 and 4 were treated with the doses of 15 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg of the extract while group 5 was treated with glibenclamide respectively. The blood glucose level of each group was monitored for 2hours at 30 minutes interval and compared with the control that was given water only. The result shows that the extracts were able to scavenge free radicals but methanol stem extract of A. paniculata performed better in scavenging free radicals as compared to others. The blood sugar levels of the rats treated with doses of 15 and 30 mg/kg of methanol stem extract of A. paniculata were significantly lower than the group of rats that were fed with only glucose and the group of rats treated with glibenclamide. The glucose-lowering efficiency of the extract was between 60-120 minutes. Findings from this present study revealed that A. paniculata is a potential plant that can scavenge free radicals and also possess hypoglycemic activity.