A. A. OMONKHUA

A multifaceted metabolic illness termed diabetes mellitus, causes the development of insulin resistance, hampered insulin signaling, malfunction of the beta cells, abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism, inflammation, and elevated oxidative stress. Conventional drugs used for diabetes treatment are associated with drawbacks, such as rigid dosing regimens, high cost, and side effects. Therefore, screening for new anti-diabetic compounds from natural plants used in folk medicine is still attractive for their efficacy, low incidence of side effects, and low cost. Folkloric information that Tetrapleura tetraptera has anti-diabetic effect has prompted the use of the root bark of this plant for research into its anti-diabetic effect, and anti-oxidant effect. T. tetraptera roots has been shown to be rich in saponins, which led to the design of this study to investigate the effect of saponins extracted from T. tetraptera (TTS) on the enzymatic oxidative status of streptozotocin induced diabetic Wistar rats. The study investigated the effect of T. tetraptera(TTS) on: serum and tissue total protein; and superoxide dismutase (SOD); catalase; and glutathione-S-transferase activities in the serum and tissues of streptozotocin induced diabetic Wistar rats. T. tetraptera saponins (TTS) was administered orally via gavage at different doses of 10, 20, and 40 mg/kg body weight to streptozotocin induced diabetic Wistar rats in group 4, 5, and 6 respectively. The standard drug metformin was administered to group 3, group 1 was the normal control, and group 2 animals were the untreated diabetic group. Treatment lasted for 12 weeks. After treatment, total protein; superoxide dismutase (SOD); catalase; and glutathione-Stransferase was assayed for in the liver, heart, kidney, pancreas, and testis. The result showed a significant increase in total protein concentrations in almost all the tissues especially at lesser dose of 10 mg/kg TTS, while again at 10mg/kg TTS treated group, there was a significant elevation in SOD levels of both serum and the liver. Treatment with saponins from T. tetraptera caused significant (p<0.05) increase in catalase activities in the serum and kidney. It was lastly observed that administration of saponins from T. tetraptera increased GST activities significantly (p<0.05) in the serum and kidney. This study has shown that total saponins from T. tetraptera especially at 10mg/kg TTS body weight could scavenge free radicals which is very important in the management of diabetes mellitus.