Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences
 

« Back to Farmacia Journal 1/2026

LABISIA PUMILA (KACIP FATIMAH) PREVENTED MULTIPLE ORGAN DETERIORATIONS IN DIABETIC RATS

NAZMUN NAHAR 1,3, SUHAILA MOHAMED 1, NOORDIN MOHAMED MUSTAPHA 2, LAU SENG FONG 2, NUR ILIYANI MOHD ISHAK 1, GHADEER M. ALBADRANI 4, AMANY A. SAYED 5, MOHAMED M. ABDEL-DAIM 6,7, ABUL KALAM AZAD 8*

1 Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Malaysia
2 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Malaysia
3 Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Basic Medical and Pharmaceutical Science, University of Science and Technology, Chittagong
4 Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia
5 Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt
6 Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmacy Program, Batterjee Medical College, P.O. Box 6231, Jeddah 21442, Saudi Arabia
7 Pharmacology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia 41522, Egypt
8 FDepartment of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University MAIWP International, Batu Caves, 6800 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Download Full Article PDF

Labisia pumila (LP) is traditionally used in Malaysia for women’s health. This study evaluated the protective effects of LP leaf extract on internal organs in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Thirty male rats were divided into five groups: healthy control, non-treated diabetic, diabetic treated with metformin (200 mg/kg), and diabetic treated with LP extract at 150 or 300 mg/kg. Diabetes was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ (60 mg/kg) and confirmed after 72 hours. Treatments were administered orally for 10 weeks. Serum oxidative stress, inflammatory, and epithelial biomarkers were quantified using ELISA. Untreated diabetic rats showed significantly reduced glutathione (GSH), Claudin-1, and albumin levels, along with elevated malondialdehyde (MDA), matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) compared with healthy controls. LP extract markedly attenuated diabetes-induced damage in the pancreas, liver, kidneys, heart, lungs, and spleen, and was more effective than metformin. The 150 mg/kg dose was superior at reducing oxidative stress, while the 300 mg/kg dose exerted stronger anti-inflammatory and epithelial barrier-restoring effects, indicating complementary, dose-specific actions.