The plant Syzygium cumini, also known as Black Plum is used widely in the popular medicine for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. This study verified the efficiency of the extract of the bark of Syzygium cumini on the glycemic levels and oxidative stress of normal and diabetic rats induced by alloxan. The animals were divided in control group (C), control treatment group (CT), diabetic control group (DC) and diabetic treatment group (DT). Oral administration of the aqueous extract of the bark of Syzygium cumini, in the dose of 1g/kg live weight, for a period of thirty days, did not result in a significant reduction on glycemia or on glucosilated hemoglobin levels. The treatment with the extract demonstrated an increase in the levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBA-RS) in the plasma of the DT group (P <0.05), compared to the C. Kidney catalase activity of rats in DC group decreased significantly (P <0.01) and, in the liver, it showed a significant elevation in group DC (P <0.01). Those results indicated that the extract of Syzygium cumini bark does not possess hypoglycemic effect in alloxan diabetic induced rats. The antioxidant effect of this plant was not enough to reduce the production of TBA-RS significantly. The decrease of catalase activity in the kidneys can be owed to its exhaustion or inhibition, and its increase in the liver could be due to oxidative stress caused by the diabetic status.
Black Plum; Syzygium cumini; alloxan; diabetes; oxidative stress
