Journal of North Khorasan

Abstract Background & Objective: walnut has been widely used for the treatment of diabetes mellitus in traditional medicine. Nowadays more research is carrying out to find out the mechanisms of walnut effect on blood glucose. This study was conducted to compare the effects of oral administration of glibenclamide and the aqueous extract of walnut leaf on the serum levels of insulin and HbA1c in normal and diabetic rats. Materials and Methods: In present study, 120 adult male rats (Sprague Dawley ) were divided into twelve groups as follow: control, control treated with glibenclamide(4mg/kg),normal treated with extracts extract(50,10,50 mg/kg) alloxan-induced diabetic rats(170mg/kg/ ,ip) ,diabetic treated with glibenclimide(4mg/kg), diabetic treated with extract[10,50,150,300,500 mg/kg]-,each groups received daily gavages for one month. Insulin and HbA1c levels were determined one day after the completion of experiments. Results: Results showed a significant decrease in HbA1c and increase in insulin level of diabetic rats received walnut leaf aqueous extract compared to the control diabetics in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.05). No significant effect was seen in normal groups. In both groups the effects were the same as glibenclamide. Conclusion: One proposed mechanism for the effects of queous extract of walnut leaf may be through the increment in the insulin level either in secretion or the decrement in its degradation.