IPB Researcher Discovers Natural Antidiabetic Drug from Sea Worms
Diabetes mellitus is third most deadly disease in Indonesia after stroke and heart attack. This disease is popularly known as kencing manis in Indonesia. International Diabetes Federation states at 2014 there were 9,1 millons of diabetes cases with the prevalence of 5,81 percent. The number of diabetes patients who died at the age between 20 to 79 reached 176.000 people. Blood sugar control is very important to be done to prevent complications from diabetes. This motivates a student of Aquatic Products Technology Department, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), Fauziyyah Dityaningtiastuti to conduct a study of helminth Siphonosoma australe extract as an antidiabetic drug which is easily consumed by people. This study was supervised by Prof. Sri Purwaningsih and Prof. Ekowati Handharyani.
The most common therapies for diabetes include insulin therapy and Oral Hypoglycemic Drugs (OHO). The consumption of these drugs can cause side effecs and requires high cost. This caused people to resort into natural treatment in fighting against diabetes. “One of natural resources that have the potency to be developed as a cure for diabetes is the sea worm Siphonosoma australe. Previous studies showed S. australe has antihyperglycemic activity and could decrease average glucose content when tested to rats. However, further development regarding this potency hasn’t been done yet. Siphonosoma australe extract is proven to have antihyperglycemic activity. I attempted to formulate the worm extract in form of capsule for easy consumption,” Fauziyyah stated.
Fauziyyah conducted a study with the title “Antihyperglycemic Activity of Sea Worm Siphonosoma australe Extract Capsule in Streptozotocin-induced Sprague Dawley Rats”. In her study, Fauziyyah tested S. australe extract capsule to rats of Sprague Dawley strain. Observation was done to see the effect of sea worm to blood sugar content, body weight, water consumption, SGOT, and SGPT. Capsule in this study was formulated at 22,5 and 45 miligram per kilogram of body weight dosages.
The results of her study show that S. australe extract has bioactive alkaloid, flavonoid, steroid, saponin, and triterpenoid contents. Observation in blood sugar show that 45 miligram per kilogram of body weight dosage of the extract could reduce rats’ blood sugar content by 117,33 mg/dL and could repair the liver function with SGOT and SGPT values of 314 U/L and 200 U/L, respectively.
According to Fauziyyah, active compounds content in S. australe extract can normalize the damages in the liver. Alkaloid and flavonoid contents have hypoglycemic activity and can inhibit the activity of enzyme alpha glucosidase as an antidiabetic substance. Fauziyyah hopes that her study can be a source of information for neutraseutical or pharmaceutical materials. “I also hope that this study can be applied for diabetes therapy,” she added. (Ard)
