Diabetes and malaria are prevalent diseases in the tropics. In spite of the availability of various independent therapies for each of these diseases, treatments of patients with both diseases have been quite challenging.
Mormodiaca charantia
is used in Nigeria separately to treat malaria and diabetes. This present study was aimed at investigating the effects of the methanolic extract of
Mormodiaca charantia leaves (100 mg/kg body weight) on diabetic mice infected with malaria. Animals were infected with malaria and induced with diabetes by intraperitoneal injection of 1 x 10
7 Plasmodium berghei
and 100 mg/kg body weight alloxan monohydrate respectively. Animal subjects were treated with 5 mg/kg body weight of chloroquine phosphate, 10mg/kg body weight of glibenclamide and 100 mg/kg body weight of the extract daily for five days. Parasitemia, packed cell volume (PCV) and blood glucose level were monitored in the course of the treatment: Antioxidant status, kidney function test and histology of the kidney and pancreas section were examined. There was a decrease in the parasitemia level with a concomitant increase in the PCV, heamoglobin (Hb) and red blood cell count (RBC) level in groups treated with
M. charantia and chloroquine. Blood glucose of all the treated groups decreased significantly (p<0.05) at the end of the experiment. The creatinine, uric acid and urea values in the group treated with the plant extract was significantly increased with values 1.23 mg/dl, 2.68 mg/dl and 30.15 mg/dl respectively, however, the group treated with both standard drugs had the highest urea value (51.55 mg/dl). Photomicrograph of the section of the pancreas and kidney of the infected group showed treated with 100 mg/kg of the plant extract showed mild degeneration of the islet of langerhan and mild atropy of the glomeruli respectively. These results support further studies on the use of
Mormodiaca charantia as a single treatment for both diseases.
