EVALUATION OF EFFECT OF COMBINED 20% RAW SESAME SEED (SESAMUM INDICUM) DIET AND PLANTAIN (MUSA PARADISIACA) ON ELECTROLYTE BALANCE IN STREPTOZOTOCIN-INDUCED DIABETIC RATS

Approximately, 537 million people have been affected by a diabetes and it is predicted to affect 106 million more by 2030. Health practitioner have tried to reduce the occurrence of the disease but their efforts have been limited by the fact that accurate diagnosis is difficult due to many different subtypes of diabetes. The advancement of diabetes complications is marked by retinopathy, neuropathy and nephropathy. Immediate response to this chronic disease is needed to prevent it from deteriorating to severe damage of vital organs like the liver which is a very important organ in the human body that is responsible for different type of functions that helps support metabolism, immunity, digestion, detoxification, vitamin storage etc. Natural food sources like Sesame seed (Sesame indicum) and Plantains (Musa paradisiaca) have high nutritional properties and potential health benefits and they have been investigated for their potential hypoglycemic and antioxidant effect, suggesting they may offer therapeutic potential in managing diabetes and its complications. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of a combine 20% raw sesame seed diet and plantain supplementation on electrolyte balance in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Forty (40) Wistar rat weighing 120 – 160g were used and were divided into eight (8) groups with each groups having five (5) animals each. 40mg/kg of Streptozotocin freshly dissolved in citrate buffer of (PH 4.5) was injected into the animals to induce an experimental diabetes. After Diabetes was induced to the animals, sesame seed (Sesamum indicum) and aqueous extracts of Musa paradisiaca (Plantain) were used to manage the diabetes for 21 days. The extract was administered according to the weight of the animal.