227 Antidiabetic Effect of Ethanolic Extract of Carica papaya Leaves in Alloxan-Induced Diabetic Rats Augustine I Airaodion 1 *, Emmanuel O Ogbuagu 2 , John A Ekenjoku 2 , Uloaku Ogbuagu 1 and Victor N. Okoroukwu 3 1 Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, Nigeria 2 Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Abia State University, Nigeria 3 Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Gregory University Uturu, Abia State Nigeria. *Corresponding author: Augustine Ikhueoya Airaodion, Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. To Cite This Article: Augustine I Airaodion. Antidiabetic Effect of Ethanolic Extract of Carica papaya Leaves in Alloxan-Induced Diabetic Rats. Am J Biomed Sci & Res. 2019 - 5(3). AJBSR.MS.ID.000917. DOI: 10.34297/AJBSR.2019.05.000917. Received: September 13, 2019; Published: September 26, 2019 Copy Right@ Augustine I Airaodion This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License AJBSR.MS.ID.000917. American Journal of Biomedical Science & Research www.biomedgrid.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ISSN: 2642-1747 Research Article Abstract The growing number of diabetes coupled with the harsh side effects of some synthetic drugs has led to the increasing search for alternatives which are relatively cheap with minimal side effects. This study sought to investigate the antidiabetic effect of ethanolic extract of Carica papaya leaves in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Thirty adult male albino rats were induced intraperitoneally with alloxan. The rats were grouped into six groups of five animals per group: Group A was not induced with alloxan, Group B animals were induced but not treated, Group C animals were treated with glibenclaimide, Group D, E and F animals were treated with 200, 400 and 600 mg/kg body weight of ethanolic leaf extract of C. papaya respectively. The extracts were administered to the animals orally for 14 days. The animal’s blood sugar levels were assayed using glucometer. The lipid profiles parameters were assayed using standard methods. The animals administered with 200, 400 and 600 mg/Kg B.W of extract showed significant decrease (P<0.05) in blood sugar level compared to the untreated animals. The decrease in the blood glucose level of the animals following the administration of the plant extract suggested that the plant extract possesses antidiabetic effects. The extract of C. papaya produces hypolipidaemic effect and this is evident as there are significant decrease in plasma total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol and an increase in plasma high density lipoprotein-cholesterol in the treated groups compared to the untreated group. This implies that C. papaya leaves could replace glibenclamide in the treatment of diabetes as it has no side effect. The leaves could also be exceedingly helpful in the control of obesity and hypertension. Keywords: Carica papaya leaves; Fasting Blood Sugar; Lipid Profile; Alloxan-Induced Diabetes. Introduction Carica papaya belongs to the family of Caricaceae, and several species of Caricaceae have been used as remedy against a variety of diseases [1,2]. Originally derived from the southern part of Mex- ico, C. papaya is a perennial plant, and it is presently distributed over the whole tropical area. In particular, C. papaya fruit circulates widely, and it is accepted as food or as a quasi-drug. Many scientific investigations have been conducted to evaluate the biological activ- ities of various parts of C. papaya, including fruits, shoots, leaves, rinds, seeds, roots or latex. The leaves of C. papaya have been shown to contain many active components that can increase the total an- tioxidant power in blood and reduce lipid peroxidation level, such as papain, chymopapain, cystatin, à-tocopherol, ascorbic acid, fla- vonoids, cyanogenic glucosides and glucosinolates [3] (Figure 1a). Fruit and seed extracts have pronounced bactericidal activities [5]. Leaves have been poulticed into nervous pains, elephantoid growths and it has been smoked for asthma relief amongst tropical tribal communities. The antiplasmodial potency of ethanolic leaf extract of C. papaya against Plasmodium berghei in infected Swiss albino mice has also been reported [4]. Moreover, C. papaya leaf juice is consumed for its purported anti-cancer activity by people living on the Gold Coast of Australia, with some anecdotes of suc- cessful cases being reported in various publications. C. papaya leaf extracts have also been used for a long time as an aboriginal remedy for various disorders, including cancer and infectious diseases. C. papaya contains two important biologically active compounds viz., chymopapain and papain which are widely used for digestive dis- orders [6]. It showed that papaya derived papain, caricain, chymo- pain, and glycerin endopeptidase can improve acidic pH conditions and pepsin degradation. Other active compounds of C. papaya are lipase, a hydrolase, which is tightly bonded to the water-insoluble fraction of crude papain and is thus considered as a “naturally im-