Abstract:
Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder that continues to present a major worldwide health problem. Tithonia diversifolia (TD) is an impressive member of the sunflower family, it has been used as a traditional medicine for treat various illnesses including malaria, diarrhea, inflammation and diabetes. Therefore, this study was aimed to determine the antioxidant and anti-diabetic effects of Tithonia diversifolia aqueous leaves extract (TDA) in alloxan induced diabetic mice. The total antioxidant and total phenolic content of TDA were 93.09 ± 37.91 mM TEAC/mg dry weight and 55.92 ± 4.45 GAE mg/g dry weight, respectively. Further, the anti-hyperglycemic of TDA was evaluated within 30 days of experiment and resulted that 500 mg/kgBW of the diabetic mice treated with TDA was significantly decreased blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-cholesterol), malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and increased high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-cholesterol). According to the excellent anti-hyperglycemic properties of TDA, The separation method cause continued and semi-pure TDF (aqueous fraction) was selected to study on anti-diabetic effects due to the non-toxicity. Total antioxidant and total phenolic content of TDF were 82.41±2.084 µM TEAC/mg dry weight 46.01±1.73 GAE mg/g dry weight, respectively. The anti-hyperglymia effect of TDF was investigated on blood glucose, insulin levels and GLUT2 expression. The antioxidant activity was explored on the oxidative stress markers, malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant, catalase and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity. The blood glucose and insulin levels and the oxidative stress markers, total antioxidant, catalase, GPx and MDA, were ameliorated in diabetic mice-treated with TDF leading to the restoration of liver and pancreas pathology (H&E staining). GLUT2 is the primary hepatic liver transporter protein which supported intake glucose to liver cells. The present results showed that GLUT2 significantly increased expression in TDF-treated group compared with DM-non treated group and its showed a positive correlation with the decreased of blood glucose levels and also negative correlation with insulin levels which increased in TDF treatment group. TDF treatment regulated GLUT2 expression in mRNA levels and increased the protein levels as showed in western blot and immunohistochemistry. Conclusion, Tithonia diversifolia is an efficiency natural plant in antioxidant and anti-diabetic properties which could be beneficial for dietary supplement and co-treatment in diabetic disease.