A Screening Experiment on a Diabetes Mellitus Herbal Formulation
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Date
2016
Authors
Njoroge, G.G.
Koske, J.A.
Simbauni, Jemimah A.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Science Publishing Group
Abstract
Screening experiments are usually performed on mixtures in order to determine the experimental variables that
have significant influence on the targeted response. In this study, a screening experiment was carried out on a herbal
formulation prescribed by a registered Kenyan herbalist to diabetes mellitus type II patients. The herbal formulation was
composed of the following six herbs: Utica dioica, Moringaoleifera, Cinnamomum verum, Azadirachta indica, Momordica
charantia and Gymnema sylvestre. The targeted response was the change that had occurred in blood glucose level 2 hours after
the herbal drug treatment had been administered to alloxan induced diabetic albino wistar rats. An axial mixture design with
replicated centre points was adopted and a first degree mixture model fitted to the data. The axial mixture design was
constructed using Design Expert® software with randomly distributed 23 design points positioned on the component axes. The
analysis of the data was carried out using the R statistical software environment. The results showed that Cinnamomum verum
and Azadirachta indica caused the highest change individually on the blood glucose level among the six herbs. The complete
mixture of the six herbs registered the lowest reduction in the blood glucose level. We recommend that the two herbs,
Cinnamomum verum and Azadirachta indica, be tested farther to find out the most optimal conditions for their extraction in
terms of temperature and time so as to produce a maximum reduction on the blood glucose level. In addition, we recommend
that this study be extended to higher animals to establish whether the same patterns would be observed and also obtain the
appropriate dosage levels.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Screening Mixtures, Axial Design, Experiment, Herbal Medicine, Diabetes Mellitus
Citation
Gladys Gakenia Njoroge, Joseph Arap Koske, Jemimah Ayuma Simbauni. A Screening Experiment on a Diabetes Mellitus Herbal Formulation. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics. Vol. 5, No. 6, 2016, pp. 387-394. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtas.20160506.18