Proteome and phytochemical analysis of Cynodon dactylon leaves extract and its biological activity in diabetic rats

In Indian traditional system of medicine, herbal remedies are prescribed for treatment of various diseases including diabetes mellitus. In recent years, plants are being effectively tried in a various pathophysiological states. Cynodon dactylon is one of them. In the present study, aqueous extract of leaves of C. dactylon was found to have potent antidiabetic, antioxidant and hypolipidemic efficacy in alloxan-induced diabetic rat. Supplementation of this aqueous extract orally at the dose of 450 mg/kg body weight per day in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Plant extract administered for 15 days resulted in a significant diminution of fasting blood sugar level. The lipid profile shows a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in HDL and increase in (P < 0.05) cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL and VLDL in alloxan diabetic rats, which were normalized after the plant extract treatment. We also investigated the role of AST, ALT, ALP, AP, LDH and CPK (P < 0.05) activities, which were found to decrease significantly in the aqueous extract supplemented group with respect to diabetic group. C. dactylon extract were further evaluated with gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In this, seven chemical constituents were identified from crude leaf sample. 2D electrophoresis analysis of proteins extracted from C. dactylon was performed using pH range 3-10 revealed 95 protein spots in the gel. Our findings suggested that C. dactylon aqueous extract is effective for alleviating hyperglycemia and improving lipid profile in diabetic rats and these could be used in diabetic and coronary heart disease (CHD) management.