Hypoglycemic effect of an extract from date seeds on diabetic rats.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the efficacy of an aqueous extract from date seeds on diabetic rats.

METHODS: The study was performed in the Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between November 2008 and December 2009. Eighty adult albino rats were divided into 4 groups. Group 1 was used as healthy control. Group 2 was given daily ingestions of 10 ml of the date seed extract. Animals of groups 3 and 4 were made diabetic by injection of streptozotocin. Diabetic rats of group 3 received daily subcutaneous injections of 3 IU/day of insulin for 8 weeks while group 4 received ingestions of 10 ml of extract in addition to insulin. Fasting blood glucose levels were measured once weekly. Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was also estimated.

RESULTS: There is a significant change in the mean blood glucose levels between group 3 and group 4 from week 2. The mean blood glucose levels of group 4, every 2 consecutive weeks, showed a significant decrease until week 6. The HbA1c was significantly lower in group 4 compared to group 3.

CONCLUSIONS: The hypoglycemic effect of date seed extract combined with insulin, decreases the blood glucose level significantly toward normal when compared to the effect of insulin administered as a single drug for treatment of diabetes.