7. Phytochemical and pharmacognostic investigation of antidiabetic Costus pictus. D. Don

The present study was carried out to evaluate the antidiabetic activity of Costus pictus (C.pictus) D. Don, on alloxan induced diabetic rats. Oral administration of fresh leaf extract (200 and 400 mg/kg body weight) for 60 days treatment resulted in significant decrease in blood glucose level and lipid profiles. There were also significant changes observed in carbohydrate metabolizing enzymes and antioxidants. The nitrogenous wastes such as urea, uric acid and creatinine were also found decreased after the treatment. The study clearly shows that the effect of the drug (400 mg/kg body weight) was equally effective with the standard drug glibenclamide. To find out the biomarkers, pharmacognostic and phytochemical studies were carried out . The leaf of C. pictus is characterized by simple unicellular, pointed non-glandular trichomes, absence of palisade layer and hypodermal layers containing shattered crystals. Micromorphological characters of the leaf are also given. The leaves are found to contain flavonoids such as kaempferol, 3’, 4’-di O-Me-quercetin and 4’-OMe-Kaempferol and phenolic acids such as gentisic, 2, 5-dihydroxy benzoic acid, o-coumaric, melilotic, α-resorcyclic, 3,5-dihydroxy benzoic acid, p-hydroxy benzoic acid, cis and trans-p-coumaric acid.