diabetes mellitus is a heterogeneous metabolic disorder characterized by altered carbohydrate , lipid and protein metabolism .
the chronic hyperglycemia of diabetes is associated with long term damage , dysfunction and failure of various organs . in diabetic rats ,
however , complete cure of the disease has been eluding physicians for centuries and the quest for the development of more effective anti - diabetic agents is pursued relentlessly .
many herbal products , including several metals and minerals have been described for the cure of diabetes mellitus in ancient literature .
ruellia tuberosa l. is a tropical plant and widely distributed in southeast asia . in folk medicine
, it has been used as anti - diabetic , antipyretic , analgesic , anti hypertensive , thirst- quenching , and antidotal agent .
dipteracanthus patulus ( jacq . ) belongs to the family acanthaceae , it is used for curing eyesore by introducing the extract into the eyelid .
the leaves were ground into paste and used to treat fresh wounds , itches , insect bites , venereal diseases , sores , tumors and rheumatic complaints .
the fresh leaves of ruellia tuberosa l. and dipteracanthus patulus ( jacq . ) were collected from abs ( altogether botanical species ) medicinal plants garden , karipatti , salem , tamil nadu , india .
the plant was identified by the herbarium of botanical survey of india ( bsi ) southern circle , tamil nadu agricultural university ( tnau ) ( no : bsi / sc/5/23/08 - 09/tech- 118 , 229 ) .
the fresh leaves of ruellia tuberosa l. and dipteracanthus patulus ( jacq . ) collected ( 6 kg ) , were shade dried for five days and crushed to coarse powder ( 3 kg ) .
the coarse powder thus obtained was cold macerated with 1.5 liters of 50% ethanol ( ethanol : water in 1:1 ratio ) and kept for 3 days at room temperature , with occasional stirring .
the suspension was filtered through a fine muslin cloth and was evaporated to dryness at a low temperature ( at 40c ) under reduced pressure in a rotary evaporator .
healthy swiss albino rats of six to eight weeks old weighing about 110 - 120 g were obtained from the animal facility of psg institute of medical science and research ( no : 158/1999/cpcsea ) , coimbatore , india . the rats were grouped and housed in polyacrylic cages and maintained under standard conditions ( 25  2c ) with 12  1 h dark / light cycle .
all procedures described were reviewed and approved by the animal ethical committee ( aec ) .
animals were allowed to fast for 18 h and were injected intraperitoneally with freshly prepared alloxan monohydrate in sterile normal saline at a dose of 120 mg / kg body weight .
the animals were divided into seven groups of six animals in each group , after two week acclimatization period .
group i ( normal control + normal saline 5 ml / kg body weight ) , group ii ( diabetic control ) , group iii ( drug control - glibenclamide 600 g / kg body weight ) , group iv ( diabetes + 250 mg / kg body weight 50% hert ) , group v ( diabetes + 500 mg / kg body weight 50% hert ) , group vi ( diabetes + 250 mg / kg body weight 50% hedp ) , group vii ( diabetes + 500 mg / kg body weight 50% hedp ) .
( 50% hedp / hert  hydroethanolic leaf extract of ruellia tuberosa l./dipteracanthus patulus ( jacq . ) ) .
after the end of experimental period ( 30 days ) , the rats were fasted overnight and sacrificed by cervical decapitation .
serum was separated from the blood collected , by centrifugation and the serum was stored at 4c for biochemical analysis .
estimation of serum cholesterol was done by richmond ( 1973 ) , hdl - cholesterol was determined by castelli et al .
triglyceride and phospholipid was estimated by philip and mayne ( 1994 ) , raheja , et al . vldl ( very low density lipoprotein ) - cholesterol was calculated by ; triglyceride/5 ; ldl ( low density lipoprotein ) cholesterol .
data was reported as mean  sd by using the statistical package of social sciences ( spss ) .
the data for all the parameters was analyzed by using analysis of variance ( anova ) and the group means were compared by duncan 's multiple range test ( dmrt ) .
the fresh leaves of ruellia tuberosa l. and dipteracanthus patulus ( jacq . ) were collected from abs ( altogether botanical species ) medicinal plants garden , karipatti , salem , tamil nadu , india .
the plant was identified by the herbarium of botanical survey of india ( bsi ) southern circle , tamil nadu agricultural university ( tnau ) ( no : bsi / sc/5/23/08 - 09/tech- 118 , 229 ) .
the fresh leaves of ruellia tuberosa l. and dipteracanthus patulus ( jacq . ) collected ( 6 kg ) , were shade dried for five days and crushed to coarse powder ( 3 kg ) .
the coarse powder thus obtained was cold macerated with 1.5 liters of 50% ethanol ( ethanol : water in 1:1 ratio ) and kept for 3 days at room temperature , with occasional stirring .
the suspension was filtered through a fine muslin cloth and was evaporated to dryness at a low temperature ( at 40c ) under reduced pressure in a rotary evaporator .
healthy swiss albino rats of six to eight weeks old weighing about 110 - 120 g were obtained from the animal facility of psg institute of medical science and research ( no : 158/1999/cpcsea ) , coimbatore , india .
the rats were grouped and housed in polyacrylic cages and maintained under standard conditions ( 25  2c ) with 12  1 h dark / light cycle .
all procedures described were reviewed and approved by the animal ethical committee ( aec ) .
animals were allowed to fast for 18 h and were injected intraperitoneally with freshly prepared alloxan monohydrate in sterile normal saline at a dose of 120 mg / kg body weight .
the animals were divided into seven groups of six animals in each group , after two week acclimatization period .
group i ( normal control + normal saline 5 ml / kg body weight ) , group ii ( diabetic control ) , group iii ( drug control - glibenclamide 600 g / kg body weight ) , group iv ( diabetes + 250 mg / kg body weight 50% hert ) , group v ( diabetes + 500 mg / kg body weight 50% hert ) , group vi ( diabetes + 250 mg / kg body weight 50% hedp ) , group vii ( diabetes + 500 mg / kg body weight 50% hedp ) .
( 50% hedp / hert  hydroethanolic leaf extract of ruellia tuberosa l./dipteracanthus patulus ( jacq . ) ) . after the end of experimental period ( 30 days )
serum was separated from the blood collected , by centrifugation and the serum was stored at 4c for biochemical analysis .
estimation of serum cholesterol was done by richmond ( 1973 ) , hdl - cholesterol was determined by castelli et al .
triglyceride and phospholipid was estimated by philip and mayne ( 1994 ) , raheja , et al . vldl
( very low density lipoprotein ) - cholesterol was calculated by ; triglyceride/5 ; ldl ( low density lipoprotein ) cholesterol .
data was reported as mean  sd by using the statistical package of social sciences ( spss ) .
the data for all the parameters was analyzed by using analysis of variance ( anova ) and the group means were compared by duncan 's multiple range test ( dmrt ) .
the results of the serum lipid profile [ figures 1 and 2 ] shows that in alloxan induced diabetic rats ( group ii ) there was not onlyhyperglycemia but also hyperlipidemia in which serum triglycerides , total cholesterol and phospholipids levels were increased significantly when compared to the control group ( group i ) .
treatment of diabetic rats with 50% hydro - ethanolic leaf extracts of ruellia tuberosa l. and dipteracanthus patulus ( jacq . )
( group iv to vii ) for 4 weeks resulted in a significant decrease in serum phospholipids , triglycerides , ldl - c and vldl - c and increase in hdl - c level was found as compared to diabetic control .
total cholesterol level was found to be significantly decreased in the administration of 500 mg / kg body weight of 50% hydro - ethanolic leaf extracts of ruellia tuberosa l. and dipteracanthus patulus ( jacq . ) .
group treated with glibenclamide 600 g / kg body weight was found to be effective in lowering the lipid profile level as compared to plant extracts treatment groups .
effect of 50% hydroethanolic leaf extracts of ruellia tuberosa l. and dipteracanthus patulus ( jacq . ) on cholesterol , triglycerides , and phospholipid levels in the serum of alloxan induced diabetic rats effect of 50% hydroethanolic leaf extracts of ruellia tuberosa l. and dipteracanthus patulus ( jacq . ) on hdl , ldl , and vldl - cholesterol levels in serum of alloxan induced diabetic rats
it has been established that diabetes mellitus causes change in the normal metabolism of lipids in diabetic rats .
it is seen that cholesterol and triglyceride were elevated in diabetic condition such an elevation represented the risk factor for coronary heart disease .
there was a reduction in the cholesterol and triglyceride level of diabetic rats after 50% hydro - ethanolic leaf extracts of ruellia tuberosa l. and dipteracanthus patulus ( jacq . )
it is well known that ldl plays an important role in arteriosclerosis and that hypercholesterolemia , which is associated with a defect relating to the lack of ldl receptors . in diabetes mellitus
, have reported that vldl and ldl level was found to be decreased and hdl level was increased during plant extracts treatment .
this study has shown that , oral administration of 50% hydro - ethanolic leaf extracts of ruellia tuberosa l. and dipteracanthus patulus ( jacq . ) was not effective in reducing the serum lipid levels associated with diabetes mellitus when compared to that of the drug ( glibenclamide 600 g / kg body weight ) administered .
we suggest that the lowering of lipids to certain level by 50% hydro - ethanolic leaf extracts of ruellia tuberosa l. and dipteracanthus patulus ( jacq . ) may be due to the presence of phytochemicals , which has been reported already
. however , further pharmacological investigations are needed to find out the mechanism of action of the active components involved .
 background : the study was undertaken to investigate the effect of 50% hydro -ethanolic leaf extracts of ruellia tuberosa l. and dipteracanthus patulus ( jacq . ) on lipid profile in alloxan induced diabetic rats.method:in lipid profile the parameters studied were serum total cholesterol , phospholipids , triglycerides , hdl - c , ldl - c and vldl - c level . 
 extracts were orally administered daily for 30 days at a dosage of 250 and 500 mg / kg bodyweight to alloxan induced diabetic rats.results:the levels of phospholipids , triglycerides , ldl - c and vldl - c were significantly ( p < 0.05 ) reduced . 
 the hdl - c level was found to be increased in the treatment groups . 
 total cholesterol level was found to be significantly ( p < 0.05 ) decreased at 500 mg / kg bodyweight of both the plant extracts treated groups.conclusion:the results further suggests that the effect of plant extract treated groups was found to be lower in reducing the lipid levels in serum when compared to the drug ( glibenclamide 600 g / kg body weight ) treated group . 
INTRODUCTION
METHODS
Plant material
Preparation of 50% hydroethanolic leaf extracts of 
Experimental animals
Induction of diabetes mellitus
Treatment groups
Biochemical analysis
Statistical analysis
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
CONCLUSIONS