Evaluation of the euglycemic effect of oral administration of S. rebaudiana B. cultivated in Mexico in normoglycemic and induced-diabetic rats

DOI: 10.22161/ijeab/2.1.44

Abstract:
Stevia rebaudiana is a plant widely used as sweetener and food supplement. There are some reports of the euglycemic effect of S. rebaudiana extracts, which has been attributed mainly to stevioside for the results obtained by other authors. However, studies with extracts lack the precise quantification of glycosides and it is known that several agricultural and environmental factors affect the steviol glycosides content. The aim of this study was to evaluate the euglycemic effect of oral administration of extracts of S. rebaudiana varieties cultivated in Mexico in normoglycemic and induced-diabetic Wistar rats and quantify their glycosides content. Aqueous leaves extracts of Criolla and Morita II varieties of S. rebaudiana were used to quantify glycosides by a validated HPLC method or lyophilized for in vivo experiments. Hypoglycaemic effect was evaluated in normoglycemic fasting rats, subjected to intragastric administration of Criolla or Morita II (100 or 200 mg/kg) and glucose measured at time 0, 1, 3, 5 and 7 hours. The antihyperglycemic effect was first evaluated with Streptozotocin / Nicotinamide-induced diabetic rats following the methodology previously described, and further evaluated with glucose load in normoglycemic rats. Control groups were distilled water and glibenclamide (5 mg/kg). Stevioside content was 2.08 ± 0.11 and 5.22 ± 0.23 (g/100 g of dry leaves) in the Morita II and Criolla variety, respectively. Acute administration of both varieties of S. rebaudiana had no euglycemic effect in normoglycemic or induced-diabetic rats (p> 0.05) at any of the doses tested.

Keywords:
Antihyperglycemic, Hypoglycemic, glucose, Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, Steviol glycosides.

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