The Comparison of Eucalyptus Aqueous Extract and Insulin on Blood Sugar and Liver Enzymes in Diabetic Male Rats

Background : Since eucalyptus is a traditional plant which has been consumed as antidiabetic in herbal medicines, the aim of this survey was to compare the effect of eucalyptus aqueous extract and insulin on serum blood sugar and liver enzymes in streptozotocin (STZ) diabetic male rats.
Material & Methods : The experiment was performed on four groups of rats: sham control (A), diabetic control (B), diabetic (C) which received insulin and diabetic group (D) which consumed Eucalyptus aqueous extract in drinking water for 4 weeks (n=8). Sham control and B group did not receive any agents. At the end, animals were deep anesthetized by diethyl ether, sacrificed and blood samples were collected. Blood sugar, serum lipids and liver enzymes were measured by ordinary methods. Obtained data were analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey tests. Results were expressed as mean±SD. Statistical difference of p<0.05 was recognized significant.
Results : Results showed that blood sugar in group C significantly decreased compared with that of group B but ALT, AST and ALP activity value significantly increased compared with those of other groups.
Conclusion : These results indicated that Eucalyptus aqueous extract caused decreased blood sugar but increased liver enzymes activity in STZ diabetic male rats.