Allium tuberosum: Antidiabetic and hepatoprotective activities.

Allium tuberosum (AT) is traditionally used for treating nocturnal emissions, abdominal pain, diarrhea, sexual dysfunction and asthma. This study aimed at investigating the antidiabetic and hepatoprotective activities of the butyl alcohol fraction from the methanolic extract of A. tuberosum. For the antidiabetic activity, rats were induced with diabetes by intraperitoneal injection of 150mg/kg alloxan and treated for 30days with AT extract (100, 200 and 400mg/kg). Animals were sacrificed after the study and the fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), HDL, malondialdehyde (MDA) catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione levels were determined. The hepatoprotective assay, mice were pretreated for seven days with AT (100, 200 and 400mg/kg) and silymarin (100mg/kg or). Thereafter 10ml/kg of 2% v/v CCl4 was administered intraperitoneally on the 7th day to induce acute liver injury. Blood and liver samples were obtained and serum enzymes ALT, AST, ALP, SOD, GSH, CAT, MDA and pro-inflammatory mediators were assessed. AT significantly decrease FBG, serum TG, TC, MDA levels and significant increased HDL, SOD, GSH and CAT activities in the diabetic rats. In addition, AT significantly inhibited MDA, IL-1b, IL-6 and TNF-α levels and prevented the depletion of the antioxidant enzymes GSH, SOD and CAT activities in CCl4 induced liver damage. Furthermore, AT markedly reduced AST, ALT and ALP levels in the CCl4 treated mice groups. In conclusion, the antidiabetic and hepatoprotective effect of AT may be associated with its antioxidant and its ability to inhibit the pro-inflammatory mediators.