Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder having serious consequences on health and is becoming the 3^rd most fatal disease worldwide. The current study was designed to prepare and explore the antihyperglycemic potential of a polyherbal formulation comprising aqueous extracts of Momordica charantia,  Syzygium cumini, Acacia nilotica, Elettaria cardamomum, Cicer arietinum L, Foeniculum vulgare and Gymnema sylvestre. Hyperglycemia was induced by alloxan monohydrate (150 mg/kg). After induction of diabetes, polyherbal formulation was administered in graded doses 200, 400 and 600mg/kg to treated groups I, II and III respectively. Polyherbal formulation was found to be rich in phytoconstituents on phytochemical analysis. Antihyperglycemic potential of polyherbal formulation was determined through biochemical and gene expression analysis. Results of the study revealed that polyherbal formulation significantly reversed the alloxan monohydrate induced hyperglycemia in rat models by improving the biochemical parameters in dose dependent manner. Highest dose of polyherbal formulation (600 mg/kg) significantly reduced the serum glucose (142.60±3.12 mg/dl), glycosylated hemoglobin (6.62±0.27%) and increased the serum insulin (16.87±1.53 U/L) levels in comparison to diabetic control group having serum glucose (375.20±8.98 mg/dl), glycosylated hemoglobin (13.92±0.70%) and insulin (6.26±1.13 U/L) levels respectively. Moreover, polyherbal formulation enhanced the performance of pancreatic β cells by upregulating the expression of PDX-1, INS-1 and INS-2 genes (insulin signaling cascade). Conclusively, the results of current study indicated the potent hypoglycemic properties of polyherbal formulation.

To Cite This Article: Majeed W, Khaliq T, Aslam B and Khan JA, 2018. Polyherbal formulation prevents hyperglycemia by modulating the biochemical parameters and upregulating the insulin signaling cascade in alloxan induced hyperglycemic rats. Pak Vet J, 38(2): 121-126. http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2018.035