Abstract
<jats:p>Background and Objective: The increasing number of diabetes coupled with some serious side effects from synthetic drugs has led to the ever-increasing search for alternatives. This study investigated the anti-diabetic and hypolipidemic potentials of unripe Carica papaya (UCP) seed extract in diabetic rats using three different solvents. Materials and Methods: Thirty adult male Wistar rats were used. Twenty-five out of thirty were induced diabetes following an overnight fast, by a single intravenous injection of 60 mg/kg STZ. The rats were grouped into six groups (n=5):NC: normal control, DC: diabetic control, DSTD: diabetic and treated with glibenclaimide, DAUCP, DMUCP and DPEUCP rats were induced but treated with 200 mg of aqueous, methanol and petroleum ether extract of UCP seed extract respectively. The extracts were administered to the animals orally for 21 days. Results: The animals administered with different extracts showed significant decrease (P<0.05) in blood sugar level, total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-C and an increase level in HDL-C when compared to the diabetic control group. Conclusion: The observed improvement in blood glucose and lipid parameters in the streptozotocin induced diabetic rats; following the treatment with the extracts suggest valuable hypoglycaemic and hypolipidemic potentials of the plant. This implies that unripe C. papaya seed can be effectively used in the management of diabetes.</jats:p>