Ethanolic crude extract (ECE) of leaves from Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels, Myrtaceae was screened for its hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activity (125, 250 and 500 mg/kg v.o.). Rats were divided into three groups for the evaluation of the hypoglycemic effect: normal rats, rats with alloxan-induced diabetes and hyperglycemic normal rats. Hypolipidemia was evaluated in rats with alloxan-induced diabetes. The antihyperglycemic activity was compared to treatment with glibenclamide, an oral hypoglycemic agent. The acute treatment with S. cumini ECE caused a significant decrease in the blood glucose in hyperglycemic normal rats (250 mg/kg), and in glucose (125 and 250 mg/kg), triglyceride (125 and 500 mg/kg) and cholesterol (125 mg/kg) levels of diabetic rats, but no effect was observed in the normal treated rats. Syzygium cumini leaves are a good candidate for alternative and/or complementary medicine in the management of diabetes mellitus, since they showed hypoglycemic activity in addition to a hypolipidemic action in diabetic animals.
