International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology | April 2021 | Vol 10 | Issue 4 Page 333 International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology Ameyaw EO et al. Int J Basic Clin Pharmacol. 2021 Apr;10(4):333-341 http://www.ijbcp.com pISSN 2319-2003 | eISSN 2279-0780 Original Research Article Effect of xylopic acid on alloxan-induced diabetic neuropathy in rats Elvis O. Ameyaw, 1 Ernest Obese 1 *, Du-Bois Asante 2 , Robert P. Biney 1 , Akua A. Karikari 3 , Emmanuel A. Adakudugu 1 , Bright G. Dzotefe 3 , Madison Adanusa 4 INTRODUCTION Diabetes mellitus has been one of the common micro- and macrovascular metabolic disorders that result in substantial morbidity and mortality. 1 The International Diabetes Federation describes the existence of diabetes in adults to be 8.8% in 2017, which corresponds to 425 million people worldwide. The incidence is expected to increase by 48%, and the number of people with diabetes will escalate to 629 million by 2045. 2 It is regarded to be one of the world's top five leading causes of death. In modern medicine, no agreeable effective therapy is still available to cure diabetes mellitus. 3 As the disease develops, serious diabetic complications such as retinopathy, neuropathy, nephropathy, cardiovascular complications, and ulcerations result in tissue or vascular DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2319-2003.ijbcp20211011 1 School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana 2 Department of Forensic Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, College of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana 3 Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Allied Health Sciences, College of Health and Allied Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana 4 Directorate of University Hospital, University of Cape Coast, Ghana Received: 20 January 2021 Accepted: 02 March 2021 *Correspondence: Dr. Ernest Obese, Email: ernest.obese@ucc.edu.gh Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Background: Neuropathic pain is a very disturbing condition commonly found in diabetic patients. This study investigated xylopic acid (XA), the major constituent of Xylopia aethiopica in diabetic neuropathy as well as established possible toxicity of the compound on some selected tissues. Methods: Diabetes was induced in six groups of male rats with 120 mg/kg alloxan monohydrate. Diabetes was confirmed as a blood glucose level >15 mmol/dl. Neuropathic pain was confirmed on day three post-diabetes induction and treatment with 10 mg/kg, 30 mg/kg or 100 mg/kg xylopic acid, 10 mg/kg glibenclamide, 10 mg/kg morphine, and 10 ml/kg normal saline were initiated and continued for the next 15 days. The effects of the treatments on cold allodynia (cold water at 4°C) and thermal hyperalgesia (hot water at 55 ± 1°C) were evaluated within the duration of treatments. Histology of the liver and kidney, as well as haematological, serum biochemical, and semen analyses, were done after the fifteenth day of the experiment. Results: Xylopic acid produced significant anti-hyperglycaemic and analgesic effects in the cold allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia tests. Sperm motility, viability and count were significantly restored at 10 mg/kg XA as compared higher doses and negative control. The outcome of haematological analysis revealed a protective effect of XA although histological damage liver and kidney due to alloxan treatment was observable. Conclusions: Xylopic acid ameliorates diabetic neuropathy in rats and does not exert detrimental effects at low doses. Keywords: Xylopic acid, Neuropathic pain, Hyperglycaemia, Diabetes