American Journal of Food Science and Technology, 2021, Vol. 9, No. 4, 161-172 Available online at http://pubs.sciepub.com/ajfst/9/4/8 Published by Science and Education Publishing DOI:10.12691/ajfst-9-4-8 Vinca (Catharanthus roseus) Extracts Attenuate Alloxan-Induced Hyperglycemia and Oxidative Stress in Rats Yousif Elhassaneen * , Sherif Ragab, Abeer Abd El-Rahman, Safaa Arafa Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Faculty of Home Economics, Minoufiya University, Shebin El-Kom, Egypt *Corresponding author: Received September 27, 2021; Revised October 28, 2021; Accepted November 05, 2021 Abstract The present study was carried out to investigate the effectiveness of Catharanthus roseus extracts in modulating the hyperglycemia and oxidative stress (OS) of alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Treatment of rats with alloxan caused a significant (p≤0.05) increased in serum glucose concentration by the ratio of 273.61% compared to normal control group. Supplementation of the rat diets with 300, 400 and 500 mg/kg of ethanolic Catharanthus roseus stems extract (CRSE) and ethanolic Catharanthus roseus leaves extract (CRLE) decreased this value which recorded 184.72, 113.47 and 76.39%, and 139.86, 112.91 and 57.36%, respectively. The rate of attenuation exhibited a dose dependent increase with both extracts consumption. Also, CRLE is more effective in the attenuation process than CRSE. The same behavior was recorded for the biomarkers of OS levels in serum i.e. malonaldehyde (MDA). In contrary, significant (P≤0.05) improving in different antioxidant defense systems in both serum (glutathione fractions, GSH), and RBC's (antioxidant enzymes including glutathione peroxidase, GSH-Px, glutathione reductase, GSH-Rd and catalases, CAT) were recorded. Such biochemical changes observed in the present study were confirmed by the histopathological examination results. In conclusion, Catharanthus roseus possess a variety of beneficial activities and have the potential to impart therapeutic effect holistically in complicated disorders like diabetes and its complications. Keywords: Catharanthus roseus, leaves, stems, malonaldehyde, glutathione fractions, antioxidant enzymes, histopathology Cite This Article: Yousif Elhassaneen, Sherif Ragab, Abeer Abd El-Rahman, and Safaa Arafa, “Vinca (Catharanthus roseus) Extracts Attenuate Alloxan-Induced Hyperglycemia and Oxidative Stress in Rats.” American Journal of Food Science and Technology, vol. 9, no. 4 (2021): 161-172. doi: 10.12691/ajfst-9-4-8. 1. Introduction Diabetes is defined as a state in which homeostasis of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism is improperly regulated by insulin. This results, decrease in both insulin secretion and insulin action, primarily in elevated fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels. If this imbalanced homeostasis does not return to normalcy and continues for a protracted period of time, it leads to hyperglycemia that in due course turns into a syndrome called diabetes mellitus (DM) [1,2]. There are two main categories of DM. Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) also called insulin- dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), the body does not produce insulin, and daily insulin injections are required. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed during childhood or early adolescence [3]. Type 2 (T2DM), the noninsulin- dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is the result of failure to produce sufficient insulin and insulin resistance. Early phenomenon of T2DM is insulin insensitivity, which not only has negative metabolic consequences but also contributes subsequent pancreas β-cell exhaustion, resulting in the onset of clinical hyperglycemia [4]. Thus, understanding the regulation of the insulin response and identifying the related mechanisms are important to early treatment and prevention of T2DM. DM is widely distributed all over the world including Egypt, and nearly one of each 10 person is diabetic. About 415 million people in the world diagnosed with DM and majority of them are due to T2DM. DM incidence predicted to increase 642 million people by the year 2040 [5]. Therefore, the human population worldwide appears to be in the midst of an epidemic of diabetes. Reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that DM is one of the major killers of our time, with people in Southeast Asia and Western Pacific as well as Middle East being most at risks [1]. DM is one of the world’s most common chronic diseases as changing lifestyles lead to reduced physical activity and increased obesity [6]. Also, disease complications, such as cardiovascular symptoms, eye impairment or kidney failure are even fatal for some of patients [7]. Additionally, diabetes induces oxidative stress (OS) and its complications in different experimental animal's models and human patients. OS was initially defined as a serious imbalance between oxidation and