Novel pentacyclic triterpene isolated from seeds of Euryale Ferox Salisb. ameliorates diabetes in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats.

The present research was carried out to study the effect of 2β-hydroxybetulinic acid 3β-oleiate (HBAO), a novel compound isolated from the seeds of Euryale ferox salisb. on glycemic control, antioxidant status and histopathological morphological alterations in the liver, pancreas, kidney and heart in streptozotocin induced type-2 diabetes in rats. HBAO was isolated from the seeds of Euryale ferox salisb. according to Lee. Isolation of the active principle HBAO was performed for the first time. To date there are no reports on the isolation and evaluation of 2β-hydroxybetulinic acid 3β-oleiate (HBAO) from Euryale ferox salisb. Assessment of different biochemical parameters like the effect of HBAO on glycemic control, plasma insulin, glycosylated hemoglobin, hepatic glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, glucose-6-phosphatase and fructose-1-6-biphosphatase, hepatic hexokinase, lipid profile, antioxidant marker and histopathology of pancreas, liver and kidney examination was done at the end of the experimentation, i.e. on day 45. HBAO exhibited remarkable improvement in glycemic control, lipid levels, plasma insulin, glycogenic liver enzymes and antioxidant activity in diabetic rats, along with progressive enhancement of distortive histopathological morphology of liver, pancreas and kidney. The results strongly suggest that HBAO could be a potential therapeutic agent in diabetes.