Effect of oral administration of bark extracts of Pterocarpus santalinus L. on blood glucose level in experimental animals

The effect of administration of different doses of Pterocarpus santalinus L . bark extracts in normal and diabetic rats, on blood glucose levels was ev aluated in this study. Among the three fractions (aqueous, ethanol and hexa ne), ethanolic fraction at the dose of 0.25 g/kg body weight showed maximum antihyperglycemic activity. The same dose did not cause any hypoglycemic a ctivity in normal rats. The results were compared with the diabetic rats tr eated with glibenclamide and the antihyperglycemic activity of ethanolic ex tract of PS bark at the dose of 0.25 g/kg b.w. was found to be more effecti ve than that of glibenclamide. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All r ights reserved.