Potentials of Pterocarpus erinaceus Poir: Aqueous Stem Bark Extract to Prevent Development of cardiomyopathy in Rats

Cardiomyopathy is one of the significant complications of diabetes mellitus.  Hyperglycemia plays a central role in the pathogenesis of diabetic cardiomyopathy. The aqueous stem bark extract of Pterocarpus erinaceus was investigated for its phytochemical constituents, its effects on blood glucose level, lipid profile, antioxidants markers, and cardiac markers for heart tissue damage in alloxan induced diabetic wistar albino rats. Thirty five (35) rats were randomly divided into six groups. The animals in groups 2-6 were induced with a single dose of 150 mg/kg body weight of alloxan intraperitoneally. They were confirmed hyperglycemic after 72 hours of induction. Group 3 rats were treated with vitamin C as standard drug while group 4-6 were treated with P. erinaceus extract (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg body w. t) for 14 days. The results shows that P. erinaceus aqueous stem bark extract contains flavonoids as the most abundant constituent with concentration of (452.67±7.37 mg/100g). The aqueous stem bark extract given at dose of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg decrease blood glucose concentration of rats by 44.26%, 47.16% and 74.41% respectively at 14th day of treatment. The rats treated with the plant extract shows significant decrease (p < 0.05) in triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels as well as significant increase (p<0.05) in the levels of total protein (TP) and  high-density lipoprotein (HDL) compared to the diabetic untreated rats. Antioxidant markers such as catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), reduced glutathione (GSH) and glutathione transferase (GST) significantly increased (p<0.05) in rats treated with the extract, while malondialdehyde (MDA) level was significantly reduced (p<0.05) compared to the diabetic untreated rats. Serum cardiac markers for heart tissue damage such as cardiac Troponin I (cTnI), aspartate transferase (AST) and creatine kinase-myocardial band (CK-MB) significantly increased (p<0.05) in untreated diabetic rats compared to the diabetic rats treated with the extracts at all doses. Aqueous stem bark extract exhibited antihyperglycemic and antihyperlipidemic activities and mitigated damage to the heart from the alloxan-induced myocardial toxicity associated with type-1 diabetes.