Background and Aim: Diabetes mellitus is associated with haematological abnormalities and oxidative stress, contributing to disease progression and complications. Adansonia digitata, is a traditional medicinal plant well known for its potential therapeutic properties. This study investigates the effects of methanolic stem-bark extracts of Adansonia digitata on haematological and antioxidant status in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Experimental Procedure: Fourty-two wistar rats were distributed into 6 groups of 7 each. Group 1 served as normal control, group 2 to 6 animals were made diabetic by intraperitoneal administration of single dose of 50 mg kg(-1) streptozotocin. Group 2 served as the negative control and did not receive treatment, group 3 served as the positive control and received 150 mg kg(-1) metformin (Glucophage) (standard drug), while group 4, 5 and 6 received oral treatment of 100 mg kg(-1), 200 mg kg(-1) and 300 mg kg(-1) of Adansonia digitata stem-bark methanolic extract respectively for 21days, after which the animals were sacrificed, and blood and liver were collected for haematological analysis including White Blood cell (WBC), red blood cell (RBC), haemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (H CT), platelet (PLT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), total bilirubin (TB), direct bilirubin(DB) and indirect bilirubin (IB) concentration and antioxidant parameters including antioxidant enzymes [catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities] and oxidative stress marker [thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS)]. Results: STZ administration evoked a marked (p < 0.05) decline in the level of WBC, RBC, HGB, PLT, LYM and MCV in the diabetic rats when compared with the normal control. Howbeit, treatment with methanolic extracts of adansonia digitata stem-bark led to a profound (p < 0.05) increase in concentrations of these parameters close to the normal. In addition, STZ caused a non-significant (p > 0.05) decrease in MCH and MCHC. On the contrary, STZ caused an insignificant (p > 0.05) increase in the levels of TB and DB, but a significant (p > 0.05) increase IDB level in the diabetic control group when compared with the normal control group, while treatment with stem-bark extracts resulted in a marked (p > 0.05) fall in IDB level. Furthermore, there was a marked (P < 0.05) reduction in the activity of hepatic CAT and SOD and a considerable (P < 0.05) elevation in Malondialdehyde (MDA) level in the hepatic tissue of the diabetic control. Nonetheless, Adansonia digitata stem-bark extracts profoundly (P < 0.05) raised the activities of the enzymes and concomitantly counteracted MDA level. The extract elicited strong potency at 300 mg kg(-1) which is comparable to metformin (Glucophage). Conclusion: Consequently, this study advocates for the utility of Adansonia digitata extracts for the development of novel drugs for combating diabetes mellitus, associated hematological and oxidative stress complications and other ailments. Further research is needed to evaluate the clinical relevance of these effects in human subjects and to provide information on the sustained efficacy of the extracts in chronic models.
