{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T13:37:25Z","timestamp":1785418645137,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,26]],"date-time":"2026-06-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782432000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Dubai Medical University"},{"name":"Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences Publication Fund"},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100012001","name":"Al Jalila Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100012001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03zpd7f57","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pharmaceutics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objective: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major metabolic disorder associated with hyper-glycemia and oxidative stress. Traditional medicinal plants remain important sources of bioactive compounds with potential antidiabetic activity. Salacia reticulata and Caralluma tuberculata are two important medicinal plants that have been reported to have antidiabetic effects. The growing burden of type 2 diabetes and the need for therapies that address both hyperglycemia and oxidative stress underscore the necessity to investigate these two medicinal plants. Therefore, the current study evaluated the antihyperglycemic, antioxidant, and protective effects of Salacia reticulata and Caralluma tuberculata in an alloxan-induced diabetic female rat model. Methods: Ethanolic extracts of S. reticulata and C. tuberculata were characterized by total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), DPPH radical-scavenging assay, and UPLC\u2013MS\/MS metabolite profiling. Female Wistar rats (n = 42) were randomly assigned to seven groups (n = 6\/group), including normal control, diabetic control, extract-treated non-diabetic groups, diabetic extract-treated groups, and a metformin-treated diabetic group. Diabetes was induced by alloxan (130 mg\/kg), followed by oral treatment for 8 days with extracts or metformin (500 mg\/kg\/day). Fasting blood glucose, oral glucose tolerance, serum malondialdehyde (MDA), antioxidant markers (SOD1, GSH, and CAT), and liver and kidney histopathology were assessed. Results: Both plant extracts significantly reduced fasting blood glucose compared with baseline, with S. reticulata showing a greater reduction (22.8%) than C. tuberculata (12.3%), and a response comparable to metformin (27.4%). Diabetic rats exhibited increased MDA and reduced antioxidant enzyme activities. C. tuberculata significantly lowered MDA levels and increased SOD1 activity, suggesting moderate antioxidant effects, whereas S. reticulata showed higher phenolic and flavonoid contents and the highest DPPH scavenging activity. UPLC\u2013MS\/MS identified 33 compounds in S. reticulata and 24 in C. tuberculata. Histopathological findings supported improvement of diabetes-associated renal and hepatic damage. Conclusions: Within the eight-day experimental period, both extracts demonstrated significant acute antidiabetic and antioxidant effects with distinct redox\u2013metabolic profiles. However, further long-term studies are recommended to evaluate their sustained efficacy, safety, and potential as complementary therapeutic agents for diabetes management.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pharmaceutics18070785","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T08:26:15Z","timestamp":1782807975000},"page":"785","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Antihyperglycemic and Antioxidant Effects of Salacia reticulata and Caralluma tuberculata in Alloxan-Induced Diabetic Female Rats"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7514-4055","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Naglaa Gamil","family":"Shehab","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmaceutical Sciences Department, College of Pharmacy, Dubai Medical University, Dubai P.O. Box 20170, United Arab Emirates"},{"name":"Pharmacognosy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Cairo 11562, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9185-6995","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rania H.","family":"Shalaby","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Sciences Department, College of Medicine, Dubai Medical University, Dubai P.O. Box 20170, United Arab Emirates"},{"name":"Pharmacology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta 31527, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2177-434X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shabana","family":"Anjum","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Medicine, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dubai Health, Dubai P.O. Box 505055, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7414-5865","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Surendra Singh","family":"Rawat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research and Graduate Studies, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dubai Health, Dubai P.O. Box 505055, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eslam Mahmoud","family":"Alrefaee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Pharmacy, Dubai Medical University, Dubai P.O. Box 20170, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fatimah Saad","family":"Altamimi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Pharmacy, Dubai Medical University, Dubai P.O. Box 20170, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hanaa","family":"Al-Shafea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Pharmacy, Dubai Medical University, Dubai P.O. Box 20170, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Naiba","family":"Khusrau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Pharmacy, Dubai Medical University, Dubai P.O. Box 20170, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4617-4367","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefan S.","family":"Du Plessis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Medicine, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dubai Health, Dubai P.O. Box 505055, United Arab Emirates"},{"name":"Research and Graduate Studies, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dubai Health, Dubai P.O. Box 505055, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Temidayo S.","family":"Omolaoye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Medicine, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dubai Health, Dubai P.O. Box 505055, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"International Diabetes Federation (2026, May 27). Over 250 Million People Worldwide Unaware They Have Diabetes, According to New IDF Research\u2014International Diabetes Federation. 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