Abstract:
Increased arising from the maternal hyperglycemic-induced disturbances in fetal
metabolism has been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of disturbed embryogenesis in
diabetic pregnancies. Maternal diabetes in pregnancy and the associated hyperglycemia is also
believed to expose the fetus to disturbed metabolic conditions in-utero creating a 'metabolic
memory' that programs the fetus for glucose intolerance, diabetes mellitus and obesity later in
life. Garcinia kola (Heckel) is a medicinal plant with a wide range of pharmacological effects
including antidiabetic and antioxidant effects. In this study, the effects of aqueous extracts of
Garcinia kola seed on the pregnancy outcome and early postnatal development of the offsprings of pregnant alloxan diabetic and non diabetic wistar rats was studied. Forty (40) nulliparous female wistar rats were used. Pregnancy was induced in all the rats, and diabetes induced in twenty (20) making two groups; pregnant diabetic and pregnant non-diabetic. These two groups were further subdivided into four groups of five rats each receiving different concentrations of the extract as follows; control, 100mg, 200mg, and 300mg/kg of body weight. The extract was administered orally as a single dose daily throughout gestation. The results were tabulated as Mean ± Standard error of mean (mean±SEM). The differences between groups were evaluated using ANOVA and values of p<0.05 were considered to indicate statistical difference. The extract caused a reversal of the significant reduction of weight gain and significantly increased weight gain among the pregnant diabetic rats. It also significantly reduced the fasting blood glucose concentration in the hyperglycemic diabetic' rats in a dose-dependent manner to values close to normal. These may be due to the insulinogenic effect of kolaviron an active principle of Garcinia kola. The extract significantly increased the litter size among the diabetic pregnant rats in a dose-dependent manner when compared with their control that showed a statistically
