The Influence of Ethanolic Root Extracts of Ruellia tuberosa L. on Pancreatic Protease Activity and MDA Level of Rats (Rattus norvegicus) Induced by MLD-STZ

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolism disorder, indicated by increasing of blood glucose levels, due to lack of insulin secretion or insulin resistance. This study aimed to determine the influence of ethanolic root extracts of Ruellia tuberosa L on protease activity and MDA levels on pancreatic diabetic rats. This experiment used 20 rats in randomized design, that were divided into five groups: Negative control, positive control, and three groups of treatments, with doses of 250, 375, and 500 mg/kg bw, respectively for 21 days. The positive control group and therapeutic group were induced by MLD-STZ (multiple-low dose streptozotocin) at dose of 20 mg/kg bw for 5 consecutive days, in order to induce diabetic states. Protease activity and MDA levels were determined by spectrophotometric method. The results showed that ethanolic root extracts of Ruellia tuberosa L. at dose of 250 mg/kg bw was the best dose to decrease significantly protease activity and MDA level in the pancreas of diabetic rats with the percentages of 52.11% and 50.54%, respectively.