The lipid lowering effect of an anti-diabetic plant extract.

An antidiabetic plant extract, in common use by Kuwaiti diabetics, was investigated for its hypolipidemic effect using both streptozotocin-induced diabetic and normal rats. The extract significantly decreased blood triglycerides under diabetic conditions only (p less than 0.01), while it decreased cholesterol in both normal (p less than 0.01) and diabetic rats (p less than 0.05). The hypolipidemia was accompanied by significant lowering of ketone bodies both in fasted normal and diabetic animals, in addition to decreasing free fatty acids in treated diabetic rats (p less than 0.005). Moreover, the extract prevented reduction in body weight observed in diabetic animals. In contrast to some other antidiabetic plant extracts, the present preparation seems to offer the additional benefit of lipid-lowering property.