Hypoglycemic Effect of Hydroalcoholic Extract and Hexane Fraction of Persian Shallot (Allium Hirtifolium Boiss) Extract in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

The present study was aimed to evaluate the hypoglycemic and potential insulinotropic effects of hydroalcoholic extract and hexane fraction of Persian shallot on streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats. Forty nine male Wistar rats were divided into seven groups. Diabetic control and normal control received normal saline; diabetic groups received hydroalcoholic extract (500 mg/kg), hexane fraction (7 mg/kg) of Persian shallot or glibenclamide (5 m/kg) for 14 days. To measure the levels of blood glucose and insulin, blood samples of animals were collected at first, 7th and 14th days of experiment. After treatment, decreases of blood glucose levels of two treated groups were 78.73 and 100.44 %, respectively compared to glibenclamide treated group. The most effective fraction to reduce blood glucose was hexane fraction. On the other hand, hydroalcoholic extract and hexane fraction did not induce any significant effects on serum insulin level. Based on the results, it is concluded that Persian shallot exhibit promising hypoglycaemic activity in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Hypoglycaemic effect of shallot could represent a protective mechanism against the development of hyperglycaemia characteristics of diabetes mellitus.