effect of ethyl acetate fraction of costus afer on glycaemic control and essential haematological and biochemical indices of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

Introduction: diabetes mellitus is a common global cause of sudden unpredictable death if undiagnosed and untreated. costus afer (costaceae) is a tropical plant with quite a lot of pharmacological properties. this study investigated the prophylactic and antidiabetic properties of ethyl acetate fraction of c. afer in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.methods: acute toxicity (ld50) test was done using lorke’s method. haematological indices were determined using haematology autoanalyser. the biochemical assays were done using standard diagnostic methods.results: the lethal dose was 3807.9 mg/kg. there was a significant reduction (p < 0.05) in the fasting blood glucose concentration from week one to week four in the group that was pre-treated and later post-treated with 200 mg/kg body weight (bw) of the ethyl acetate fraction of c. afer leaves compared with the untreated diabetic control. the result of the hematological parameters revealed a significant increase (p < 0.05) in the hemoglobin, packed cell volume (pcv), and platelet count of the group pretreated and treated with 200 mg/kg of the fraction compared with the untreated diabetic control. the result of the biochemical assays revealed a far much better recovery from the disruptions caused by the induction of experimental diabetes as seen in the groups that were initially pretreated with 100 and 200 mg/kg before the induction of diabetes compared with the groups treated with the same dose but without pretreatment.conclusion: c. afer might be used for the prevention and management of diabetes mellitus. its safety is evidenced by its effects on the hematological and biochemical indices.