HAEMATOLOGICAL AND ANTI-DIABETIC EFFECTS OF COCOA POWDER ON ALLOXAN-INDUCED DIABETIC ALBINO RATS
T. M. Olasope*, G. T. Fadupin, O. Olubamiwa, C. O. Jayeola and K.O. Soetan
ABSTRACT
Apart from its use in some foods and beverage production, cocoa powder has also been observed to have some medicinal capabilities associated with the presence of polyphenolic compounds. This study was based on the efficacy of cocoa powder on diabetic and haematological parameters of alloxan-induced diabetic albino rats. Thirty male and female albino rats with mean weight of 200g housed in metabolic cages were randomly divided into 5 groups of 6 rats which included the normal and diabetic control with 3 treatment groups. Diabetes was induced intraperitoneally. The treatments included normal rat feed compounded with 2% cocoa powder, and feeds with oral hypoglycaemic drug (glibenclamide) and the combination of glibenclamide and 2% cocoa powder. Data on the body weight, fasting blood glucose and haematological parameters were determined. The data collected were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0. The study revealed a significant decrease (122±7.00g) in the final body weight in diabetic control group when compared to the normal control, the diabetic group treated with the combination of glibenclamide and 2% cocoa powder compounded feed had the highest final body weight (222±7.21g) among the diabetic treatment groups. The final blood glucose level of the diabetic groups treated with glibenclamide was the lowest (98.7±2.2mg/dl) when compared to that of the diabetic control group (367±40.2mg/dl). There was a significant increase in haematological indices: packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin concentration (Hb) and red blood cells count (RBC) of the treatment group when compared to the diabetic control group. The white blood cells (WBC) and neutrophils of the treatment group reduced significantly when compared to the diabetic control group. There was however a significant increase in monocyte count of the diabetic group treated with the combination of glibenclamide and 2% cocoa powder compounded feed (3.00±0.26) while eosinophils showed no significant difference among the treatments. The results showed that the cocoa powder treatments have an anti-diabetic activity on the blood glucose of the diabetic albino rats and also improved haematological indices in diabetic state.
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