Ficus Bark Extract Enhances the Antihyperglycemic Activity of Glibenclamide in Rats: A Herb-Drug Interaction Study

Objectives: The present study was undertaken to determine the interaction of glibenclamide with methanolic extract of bark of Ficus glomerata Roxb. (FBME).
Methods: The interaction was evaluated in normal and alloxaninduced diabetic rats using the parameters such as glucose tolerance test, acute and subacute levels of antidiabetic study and body weight estimations at various intervals. Glibenclamide was administered orally at two different doses of 300 μg/kg (low dose) and 600 μg/kg (high dose) and FBME was co-administered at the dose of 200 mg/kg. Individual treatments of above drugs were also carried out.
Results: The combination therapy of glibenclamide and FBME showed significant (P<0.01) hypoglycemic effect compared to their individual treatments in the parameters studied and it also showed more percentage increase in body weight than the individual treatments.
Conclusion: The present herb-drug interaction was found to be beneficial as it was observed that FBME showed synergistic effect with glibenclamide. This could provide an opportunity to reduce the dose of glibenclamide to achieve an enhanced therapeutic effect with minimal side effects.

Author(s): Sanjeev Heroor, Arunkumar Beknal, Nitin Mahurkar

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