Journal of North Khorasan

Background & objectives: Diabetes is a common endocrine disorder that can lead to hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia. Nowadays, herbal plants are utilized as inexpensive medicines with low adverse effects for treatment of diabetic disorders. In this study, the effect of hydro-alcoholic extract of prosopis fracta leaves was investigated on liver tissue and serum level of malondialdehyde in streptozotocin- induced diabetic rats. Materials & Methods: Male rats (n = 45) were randomly divided into 3 groups(normal control, diabetic control and diabetic treated with Prosopis farcta extract). Type 1 diabetes was induced in male wistar rats by injection of 42 mg/kg of streptozotocin. 300 mg/kg of Prosopis farcta leaves extract was administered after induction of diabetes for 30 days. The group of normal control and diabetic control received normal saline. After tissue processing, histopathological changes of liver were examined under light microscopy. The serum and liver concentration of MDA were determined as thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. Finally, the obtained data were statistically analyzed using Student's t–test and Mann-Whitney rank sum test. Results: Induction of diabetes with streptozotocin caused a statistically significant increases of MDA in serum and liver tissues (p<0.05). Administration of Prosopis fracta leaves extract significantly decreased concentration of malondialdehyde content in liver tissue and serum of diabetic rats (p<0.05).Histopathological findings confirmed the effective role of this extract in treatment of diabetic disorders. Conclusion: Hydro-alcoholic extract of Prosopis fracta could reduce level of malondialdehyde content in liver and prevent lipid peroxidation of cellular membranes associated with diabetes.