57 ANNALS OF PHYTOMEDICINE An International Journal Annals of Phytomedicine 2(2): 57-62, 2013 Comparative evaluation of Costus pictus D. Don leaf extracts against glucose challenged mice C.T. Shiny*, Kuldeep Singh Yadav**, Narayan Prasad Yadav**, Suaib Luqman***, LMS Palni**** *Department of Botany, Sacred Heart Degree College, Post-Naipalapur, Sitapur-261001, U.P., India ** Botany and Pharmacognosy Department, CSIR- Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow-226015, U.P., India ***Molecular Bioprospection Department, CSIR- Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow-226015, U.P., India **** G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora- 263643, Uttarakhand, India Received August 16, 2013: Revised September 30, 2013: Accepted October 10, 2013: Published online December 30, 2013 Abstract We evaluated the glucose tolerance potential of Costus pictus D. Don leaf extracted with hexane (CPH), ethyl acetate (CPEA), methanol (CPM), water (CPW), 50% methanol (CPMW) and fresh juice (CPFJ) in Swiss albino mice. The extracts of Costus pictus were administered orally at two doses viz., 200 and 500 mg/kg body weight and the glucose lowering effect was calculated in normal healthy mice by oral glucose tolerance test. The results showed that the tolerance of glucose was increased in all treated groups. The ascending order of glucose lowering effect of extracts was found as CPH-200 < CPW-200 < CPH-500 < CPFJ- 500 < CPMW-200 < CPFJ-200 < CPEA-200 < CPW-500 < CPM-200 < CPMW-500 < CPEA-500 < CPM-500. The methanolic extract at a dose of 500 mg/kg body weight showed the highest percentage of glucose lowering (72.40%), followed by ethyl acetate (67.38%) and was comparable to standard drug metformin. Key words: Costus pictus D. Don, OGTT, Glucose lowering effect, Metformin, Diabetes Introduction Diabetes is characterized by hyperglycemia and glucose intolerance associated with abnormalities in carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism due to either total or partial insulin deficiency or to the impaired effectiveness of insulin action or a combination of both (Kevin, 2005; O’Brien and Granner, 1991). Heredity, ageing, unbalanced diet, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, stress, drugs, pancreatic dysfunction, hypertension, high serum lipid, lipoproteins, and less glucose utilization are some of the factors that promote the diabetes (Al-Taweel et al., 2012). It is also associated with an increase in ischemic ISSN 2278-9839 Author for correspondence: Dr. Narayan Prasad Yadav Botany and Pharmacognosy Department , CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow-226 015, U.P., India E-mail: npyadav@gmail.com Tel.: +91-09451244418, Fax: +91-522-2342666 Dr. L.M.S. Palni Former Director, G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora-263643, Uttarakhand, India Present Address: Flat 1-A/B, Riturain, Woldorf Compound, Nanital- 263001, Uttarakhand, India E-mail: lmspalni@rediffmail.com Tel.: 05942-238963, +91-09412092188 Copyright @ 2013 Ukaaz Publications. All rights reserved. Email: ukaaz@yahoo.com; Website: www.ukaazpublications.com heart disease, stroke, hypertensive disease, renal failure, blindness and other debilitating diseases (Bradshaw et al., 2007) and the prevalence has increased in epidemic proportions (Wild et al., 2004). It is currently one of the most burdensome chronic diseases in the world (Anonymus, 2014) and World Health Organization (WHO) predicted that developing countries will bear the brunt of this epidemic in the coming decades. India has more than 50.8 million people with diabetes and projected to increase to 87 million by the year 2030 (Jawla et al., 2012). The increment in type 2 diabetic patients in developing countries is a growing concern which might be due to the adoption of a western diet and lifestyle. The day-by-day growing number of diabetic patients has resulted in a renewed interest in the use of natural and traditional remedies for treating diabetes (Deutschländer et al., 2012). Herbal drugs are now-a-days more popular because of natural origin and fewer side effects, hence explored for the discovery of potentially useful antihyperglycemic agents (Al-Aboudi and Afifi, 2011; Choi et al., 2011; Rahmatullah et al., 2009). Since, allopathic medicines in developing countries are expensive, not easily accessible and can have several adverse effects (Saxena and Vikram, 2004), WHO also recommends utilization of plants for the treatment of diabetes (Anonymus, 2011).