ABSTRACT
Diabetes mellitus is a global health problem affecting with more people in developing than developed countries. Insulin and oral hypoglycemic drugs have remained the corner stone for the management of diabetes mellitus. Unfortunately, apart from having a number of side effects, none of the oral synthetic hypoglycemic agents has been successful in maintaining euglycaemia. The use of medicinal plants for the treatment of diabetes mellitus has gained recognition and recommendation by the World Health Organization especially in developing countries where access to the conventional treatment is expensive and not readily accessible. Various plants and plant extracts have been found to play an important role in the treatment of diabetes and these plants were believed to have hypoglycemic properties. Cabbage is one of such medicinal plants, whose therapeutic application has a folkloric background. The plant enjoys widespread reputation as a remedy for various ailments. Most of the research work done on cabbage has been on extract. Hence, a scientific verification of its use as a supplement in food would be important in establishing a pharmacological basis for some of the claimed ethnomedicinal uses of the plant. This scientific verification forms the basis of the present investigation using animal models. The aim of the study is to determine the modulatory role of cabbage supplement on blood glucose levels and some physiological parameters in alloxan induced diabetic Wistar rats. While the objectives were to determine the effects of cabbage on serum glucose levels, to determine the effects of cabbage on lipid profile and also to determine the effects of cabbage on serum liver enzymes activities on alloxan induced diabetic Wistar rats respectively. The study was designed to investigate the effect of cabbage supplement on blood glucose, lipid profile and serum liver enzymes on alloxan induced diabetic Wistar rats. A total of twenty five Wistar rats of both sexes weighing 100 - 150 g were used. They were randomly allocated into five groups of five rats (n = 5 rats/group). Group one were diabetic rats given distilled water and served as the negative vii control. Group two were diabetic rats that received 5 mg/kg b/w of glibenclamide orally and served as positive control. While, groups three, four and five were diabetic rats that received 10, 25 and 50% cabbage supplement, respectively. All groups were treated for thirty days. Blood glucose and some physiological parameters including lipid profile, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), were measured in all rats. Blood glucose level was significantly (p< 0.05) reduced in treated diabetic rats in comparison to the diabetic control rats. In addition, serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) were significantly decreased (p<0.05) while high-density lipoprotein (HDL) was increased (p<0.05) in treated than in diabetic control groups. Furthermore, feed supplementation with cabbage in caused a significant increase (p<0.05) in serum levels of AST and ALT but decrease (p<0.05) in ALP enzymes. The results of this study suggest that cabbage when given as a supplement has hypoglycaemic and antilipidaemic properties and thus its beneficial effect in the management of diabetes mellitus may be considered.