Improvement of Serum Glucose and Lipid Factors by Some Polar and Non-Polar Extracts of Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench and Eryngium caeruleum M. Bieb. in Streptozotocin-Diabetic Rats

Herbal medicines (HM) have been used by mankind as complementary drugs to treat numerous disease conditions, including metabolic syndromes such as diabetes mellitus (DM), which is the most prevalent chronic non-communicable disease worldwide. Extracts of these plants are rich in bioactive components with specific health benefits. Based on the many reported medicinal activities of Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench (okra) and Eryngium caeruleum M. Bieb. (eryngo) and beneficial compounds, evaluation of the hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic potential of various extracts of these plants with some polar and nonpolar organic and aqueous solvents in streptozotocin-diabetic rats was undertaken in this study. The results indicated that, due to their more bioactive components, chloroformic extract of Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench and the hydroethanolic, chloroformic and essential oils of Eryngium caeruleum M. Bieb. had the best effect on reducing blood sugar and improving lipid factors in a diabetic group compared to other extracts. It can be concluded that extraction of Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench and Eryngium caeruleum M. Bieb. with polar and nonpolar organic and aqueous solvents could separate many bioactive components from these plants which approppriately and significantly reduce serum glucose and improve lipid factors including triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol in diabetic rats.