ANTIDIABETIC ACTIVITY OF LEAVES AND ROOT EXTRACTS OF KENYAN POPULATIONS OF DODONAEA VISCOSA ON STREPTOZOTOCIN (STZ) INDUCED DIABETIC RATS

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder affecting more than 400 million people worldwide. There are three types of diabetes which includes type I diabetes mellitus (T1D), type II diabetes mellitus (T2D) and gestational diabetes. The disease is associated with polyuria, polydipsia, and glycosuria, and many other underlying conditions. It leads to disability, high financial constraints and ultimately death of the patients. This study therefore intends to seek alternative ways of managing diabetes using herbal remedies. Dodonaea viscosa leaves and roots were collected from Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet, Uasin Gishu and Kwale counties. They were soaked in ethanol and their antidiabetic activity done on male swiss albino rats. Antidiabetic activity was calculated by a glucometer. T-test was used to compare the activity of the roots and leaves. ANOVA was calculated using F-test to find out the activity of various populations. A comparison of activity of Insulin, 200 mg and 400 mg/kg bw extracts was determined using their means. From the results, D. viscosa has a strong antidiabetic activity. T-test revealed that there was no significant difference between their activities of roots and leaves as evidenced from p >0.05. F-statistic (F = 0.545) indicates that the variances between the populations are not statistically different. The p-value (Sig. = 0.742) further confirms this. Insulin led to the highest decrease in blood sugar, followed by plant extract at 400 mg/kg bw and finally 200 mg/kg bw extracts. More research to isolate pure compounds from this rich plant need to be done.