Abstract

The hypoglycaemic effect and acute oral toxicity of graded doses of aqueous extract of Anisopus mannii was investigated in rats. The revised limit dose test of Up and Down procedure was used to determine the acute oral toxicity of the plant. The result revealed that the Median lethal dose of the plant is greater than 3000 mg/kg body weight. The treatment of the rats with varying doses of the plant extract for 28 days in this studies resulted in increases in body weight although not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The repeated administration of graded doses of the extract also produces significant (P < 0.05) decreases in the blood sugar levels of the treatment groups compared to their respective day zero values thus justifying its folkloric use as a potential hypoglycaemic agent.

Key words: Anisopus mannii, hypoglycemic effect, Rats.