effect of methanol leaf extract of duranta repens on galactose and naphthalene-induced cataractogenesis in rats

Introduction: duranta repens is often utilized in african traditional medicine to cure cataracts. this study used diabetic and senile cataract models to assess its possible effectiveness. methods: for 28 days, experimental rats were given galactose (3000 mg/kg) and naphthalene (1 g/kg) respectively to cause diabetes and age-related cataracts. for galactose-induced cataract assay groups i, ii, and iii received galactose plus 50, 100, and 300 mg/kg extract, respectively. group iv received galactose plus 10 ml/kg distilled water and group v 10 ml/kg distilled water. for the naphthalene-induced cataract assay, liquid paraffin (10 ml/kg) was given to group i and naphthalene (1 g/kg) to group ii. groups iii, iv, and v were respectively given 50, 100, and 300 mg/kg extract plus 1 g/kg naphthalene. vitamin e (50 mg/kg) plus 1 g/kg naphthalene was given to group vi. the treatments were administered orally for 28 days, eye examinations were performed using an ophthalmoscope. glutathione (gsh) and bicinchoninic acid protein enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) kits were used to measure gsh and total lens protein (tlp), respectively. results: rats given 50, 100, and 300 mg/kg of d. repens extract (dre) had mean cataract scores of 0.00 ± 0.00, 2.30 ± 0.66, and 0.00 ± 0.00, respectively, significantly lower (p < 0.0001) than the negative control group in galactose model cataracts. the dre-treated groups in naphthalene-induced cases had dose-dependent reductions in the opacity index, with values of 3.15, 2.99, and 2.16 for 50, 100, and 300 mg/kg, respectively. conclusion: duranta repens leaves may prevent cataractogenesis, supporting its traditional applications as anti-cataract.