2.11 Experimental induction of diabetes
The overnight fasted rats treated with the single intraperitoneal injection of STZ (55 mg/kg, b.w.), freshly prepared in citrate buffer (0.1 M, pH=4.5). The rats received glucose solution (20%) for 24 h to avoid the preliminary drug-induced hypoglycemic mortality. The rats displayed enormous hyperglycemia and glycosuria within few days. The diabetes mellitus was confirmed via estimation the BGL and rats having the BGL more than 250 mg/dL considered as the diabetic and were further exploited for experimental study (Kumar et al., 2013, 2014).
The rats were randomly divided into 7 groups and each group contains the 6 rats. The rats divided into following groups: Gp I: served as normal control and received vehicle only; Gp II served as normal control and received PA (200 mg/kg, b.w.); Gp III served as diabetic control (received vehicle only); Gp IV served as diabetic control and receivedPA (50 mg/kg, b.w.); Gp V served as diabetic control and receivedPA (100 mg/kg, b.w.); Gp VI served as diabetic control and received PA (200 mg/kg, b.w.) and Gp VII served as diabetic control and received glibenclamide (2.5 mg/kg, b.w.), respectively. All group rats received the oral administration of single dose of pre-determined treatment till 28) . The food and water intakes were estimated at regular interval. At the end of the experimental study, all group rats fasted overnight and the blood samples of rats were collected via puncturing the retro-orbital plexus. After that, rats were sacrificed via cervical decapitation. The organ-like pancreas immediately removed and washed with ice-cold saline and stored for further biochemical and histopathological observation (Kumar et al., 2013, 2014).