© 2012 Inforesights Publishing UK 108 Molecular & Clinical Pharmacology 2012, 3(2), 108-113 Modulatory effect of Canscora decussata (Schult) on hematological parameters in alloxan induced diabetes model Muhammad Shoaib Akhtar 1 , Abdul Malik 1 , Nadeem Irshad 1,* , Ghulam Abbas 1 , M.Imran Qayyum 1 , Yousaf Kamal 2 1 Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan. 2 Hamdard institute of Pharmaceutical sciences, Hamdard university Islamabad campus, Pakistan. *Corresponding Author: ndmirshad@gmail.com; Cell:+92-345-5722292 Received: 8 August 2012, Revised: 25 August 2012, Accepted: 26 August 2012 Abstract The present study was designed to assess the effect of methanolic (M) extract of Canscora decussata on hematological parameters in alloxan-induced diabetic rabb- its for duration of one month. (M) extract significantly (P<0.001) increase RBCs, PCV, MCV, MCHC, Hb level, total leucocytes count (TLC), neutrophil and platelet count of the treated diabetic rabbits as compared to the diabetic control group. The extract produced no significant change in Eosinophil, Lymphocyte and Monocyte count. The current study demonstrates that methanolic extract of Canscora decuss- ata has some beneficial effects on hematological parameters of diabetic treated rab- bits. Keywords: Canscora decussata; alloxan; Diabetes mellitus; hematology Introduction Currently, there has been an increasing shift in the treatment of various diseases from synthetic to herbal medicine, which we can say ‘Return to Nature’. During the last few deca- des, there is increasing interest to explore the secrets of ancient herbal remedies. Plant based drugs are considered safe for human beings. On the contrary, they would have some adverse effects due to the presence of other active ingredients (Izzo and Ernst, 2009). Therefore, eval- uation of these plant derived drugs is necessary to establish their safety and toxicity. The anemia in diabetes mellitus has been reported to occur due to the increased nonenzymatic glycosylation of RBC membrane proteins (Oyedemi et al., 2011). It has also been reported that the levels of RBCs, Hb, PVC, TLC and MCHC i.e. red blood cells differentials were dra- stically reduced in the diabetic animals (Baskar et al. 2006). World Health Organization has listed 21,000 plants which are used for medicinal purposes around the world (Modak et al., 2007). Canscora decussata (Family: Gentianaceae) one of such plants locally known as San- khaahulee, has been used in the traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases including insanity, epilepsy nervous debility etc, and found to contain triterpines, alkaloids,