IOSR Journal of Pharmacy and Biological Sciences (IOSR-JPBS) e-ISSN: 2278-3008, p-ISSN:2319-7676. Volume 8, Issue 3 (Nov. – Dec. 2013), PP 01-05 www.iosrjournals.org www.iosrjournals.org 1 | Page Effects of NaCl and Lime water on the Hypoglycemic and Antioxidant activities of Ocimum gratissimum in Alloxan-induced Diabetic rats. Makinwa T.T. 1* , Adiele H. 1 , Oyebiyi O.O. 1 , Alabi T.D. 1 and Sodeinde K. O. 2 1 Department of Chemical Sciences, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, Achievers University Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria. 2 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of science, Federal University Oye, Ekiti State, Nigeria. Abstract: The antidiabetic and antioxidant activities of Ocimum gratissimum (O.G) are well documented. This study was designed to investigate the effects of adding NaCl or lime water to aqueous leaves extract of O.G in al loxan (100mg/kg)-induced diabetic rats. 25 male wistar rats of average weight 180 were divided into 5 groups a s; control, diabetic, diabetic treated with O.G (400 mg/kg), diabetic treated with O.G+ NaCl and diabetic treate d with O.G + lime water for six weeks. At the end of the experiment, plasma glucose level, Total protein, Albumi n and liver ALT, AST, MDA and GSH were determined. The results showed that the aqueous extract of O.G, sig nificantly (P<0.05) reduced the plasma glucose, liver MDA and significantly (P<0.05) increased the liver GSH and ALT of the treated diabetic rats. However these values were found to be significantly (P<0.05) reduced by t he addition of NaCl and limewater. While there were no significant (P<0.05) differences in the plasma albumin, total proteins and liver AST in the treated groups as compared with the control. This study showed that the addi tion of NaCl or lime water to the extracts of O. gratissimum may reduce the hypoglycemic and antioxidant activi ties associated with O. gratissimum. Key words: Antidiabetic, Antioxidant, Lime water, NaCl and Ocimum gratissimum, I. Introduction Ocimum gratissimum (OG) is a plant belonging to Lamiceae family; it is known as Africa basil/sweet b asil and in Nigeria as efinrin, Nehonwu, and ai daya ta guda by the Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa. It is, planted for its nutritional, medicinal and therapeutic effects. O. gratissimum is a plant with much potential and is useful in the treatment of many diseases; its antimicrobial [1], antidiarrhoeal [2], anti-inflammatory [3], antihypertensive [4], antidiabetic [5], hypolipidemic [6], hepatoprotective [7], antioxidant [8] and immunostimulatory effects [9] has been reported. Its major constituents include aromatic and volatile oil, linolenic acid, eugenol oil, thymol oil, ol eic acid, alkaloid, flavonoid, tannins, saponin and cardiac glycosides [10], which may play some roles in this ant ioxidative effect [11]. The antioxidant activity (AA) of O. gratissimum has been assessed using various assay te chniques such as lipid peroxidation assay [12] and reduced glutathione assay [13]. In this study we investigated t he effects of adding table salt (NaCl) and lime water (which is a common traditional practice) on the antidiabetic and antioxidant effects of Ocimum gratissimum in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. II. Materials And Methods 2.1 Experimental Animals. 25 male Albino Wistar rats weighing 150-200g obtained from the Animal house, Achievers University, Owo were used for this study. The animals received a pellet diet and water ad libitum. 2.2 Drugs and chemicals. Reduced glutathione (GSH), Thiobarbituric acid (TBA), Tricarboxylic acid (TCA), 5,5 1 - dithiobis 1 -2-n itrobenzene acid (DTNB) and Alloxan were obtained from Sigma (St, Louis, MO). Glucose oxidase, ALT, AST, Albumin and Total protein kits were obtained from Randox laboratory limited United Kingdom. Others were of analytical grades. 2.3 Induction of diabetes Diabetes was induced by a double intraperitoneal injection of 100 mg/kg of alloxan monohydrate. Diab etes was confirmed by glucose oxidase method using a glucometer (accucheck) after 72 hours of alloxan injectio n. Rats with plasma glucose level ≥ 200 mg/dl were separated and used as diabetic in this study. Control rats rec eived distilled water.