Effects of Ethanolic and Aqueous Extract of Morus alba Leaves on Blood Glucose and Cholesterol Levels in Experimental Rabbits

Abstract

There has been an increase in cases of high cholesterol and high blood pressure in people worldwide. This is due to poor diets consisting of high processed sugar, fats and sugar content, as well as lifestyle that encourage little physical exercise. This study investigated the effects of ethanolic extract and aqueous extract of Morus alba leaves on blood glucose, cholesterol levels on twelve randomly selected rabbits which were fed on commercial rabbit pellets. The weights of rabbits were also analyzed to determine if they were affected by M. alba leaf extract. The rabbits were divided into four groups, Group I (Control) was not administered with any ethanolic extract of M. alba leaves, Group II was administered with ethanolic crude extract of M. alba leaves at a dose of 1ml/kg, Group III were administered with the normal saline dilution plus ethanolic crude extract of M. alba leaves and Group IV were administered with aqueous extract of M. alba. Oral administration of the extract was done for two consecutive days per week. The rabbit’s weight, cholesterol and blood sugar was monitored every week during the study duration. The results indicates that the control increased the most weight (394.67±75.23g) while the rabbits treated with the aqueous extract increased the least (246.67±26.57g). For the control, cholesterol and blood glucose levels increased during the 8 weeks of study while the other groups cholesterol and blood glucose levels decreased. The rabbits treated with normal saline plus ethanolic extract had the most significant decrease in cholesterol levels (41.34±4.19mg/dl) while the rabbits treated with aqueous extract decreased the least (15.33±1.49mg/dl). The rabbits treated with the aqueous extract had the most significant decrease in blood glucose levels (8±1.93mg/dl) while the rabbits treated with the normal saline plus ethanolic extract decreased the least (4.03±0.79mg/dl). There is a notable difference in the weights (ANOVA, F2.95, 28(3) =6.01, P=0.05), cholesterol levels (ANOVA, F2.95, 28(3) =10.79, P=0.05) and blood glucose levels (ANOVA, F2.95, 28(3) =33.76, P=0.05) of the four groups of the experimental rabbits after the eight weeks of treatment.

Keywords: Morus alba, aqueous, cholesterol, ethanolic, extract.