Vernonia amygdalina

The leaves of Ocimum gratissimum (OG) and Vernonia amygdalina (VA) had been of medicinal interest mainly due to their respective antioxidant and antihyperglycaemic properties. A daily dose of 0.5gKg-1 body weight aqueous leaf extracts of OG, VA and 50:50 (OG+VA) was orally administered to three different rabbit groups for 28 days, fed ad libitum. The control group was given only 2mlKg-1 of normal saline daily. Fasting blood glucose concentration was monitored with a digital glucometer. From the SPSS (version 15) multivariate analysis (p=.05), results showed that the mean fasting blood glucose concentrations of normal rabbits used was 5.98±0.5 mMolL-1. Only VA lowered fasting blood glucose within 24 hours and maintained the hypoglycaemia for 72 hours; VA potentiated OG after 72 hours and later synergistically lowered fasting blood glucose concentration. This study suggested that VA and (OG+VA) were time-dependent hypoglycaemic: while consumption of VA had acute effect, (OG+VA) could preferably be used for longer prophylaxis of diabetes. Therefore, further researches are recommended on the efficacy of this herbal combination therapy.

To study the effects of ethanolic extracts of Vernonia amygdalina(VA) and Ocimum gratissimum (OG)on the testes of diabetic rats, thirty-two male rats were used. Control consisted of eight (8) rats which served as non- diabetic control, receiving sodium citrate daily. The remaining rats were injected intraperitoneally with streptozotocin(65mg/kg) to induce diabetes. The rats confirmed diabetic were randomly divided into three experimental groups (1, 2 and 3) made up of eight rats each. Group 1 received 6IU/kg of insulin. Group 2 was given 100mg/kg body weight of Vernonia amygdalina and 200mg/kg body weight of Ocimum gratissimum combined daily. Group 3 served as the diabetic control and was given distilled water. The entire investigation lasted for 6 weeks. Results revealed typical testicular architecture in the normal control. Diabetic control exhibited alteration of germinal epithelium, distortion of seminiferous tubules as well as vacuolation of seminiferous tubules. The effects of the extracts on diabetic rats’ testes showed improvements compared to the diabetic control group. It is therefore safe to speculate that the extracts of these plants used especially when combined exert some significant improvement in combating the adverse effects of diabetes on the testes of male rats.