Hypoglycemic Activity of Corn Silk (Zea mays)

PURPOSE:
Diabetes is one of the top ten diseases in the Philippines. The term diabetes, when not specified, is usually used to refer to Diabetes mellitus, a serious metabolic disorder characterized by defects in the body's use of carbohydrates. It is a serious chronic metabolic disease characterized by an increase in blood sugar levels associated with long term damage and failure of organ functions, especially the eyes, kidneys, nerves, heart and blood vessels. It occurs when the pancreas does not adequately produce insulin, a hormone necessary for the proper utilization of sugar by the body or hen the body cannot properly utilize insulin.

The fact that diabetes is still incurable even in the advent of modern equipment and treatment, but when they are faithfully followed, can still relieve the patient of the symptoms of this disease and can reduce the occurrence of complications. Thus, even those who develop diabetes in an early life may, by rigid adherence to treatment, live successfully, comfortably and productively in the late stages of their lives. However, treatment of this disease requires a large amount of money, the cause why the famous “rich man’s disease” notation was attached to the disease.

The Philippines is blessed by a wide variety of plants and animals because of its tropical climate. One of the wide varieties of plants includes medicinal plants, which have been studied over the years for their ethnobotanical uses. The government is now putting up regional factories for the mass production of plants which have great potential for curing diseases and are expected to be very useful in the field of medicine.

There are promising plants that have been showing potentials and drawing interests. One of which is corn, one of the most easily recognizable plants in the world. It is used as a major source of food in many different areas around the globe by a variety of people. Morphologically, it is characterized by a pith-filled and a nodded stalk with supportive prop roots.

The silky tassel inside its husk is not often considered as food but it is highly valued because of its medicinal properties. One of the most popular is its anti-diuretic property and support for the urinary system. Not very common, but it is used in China as a component in herbal formula used to treat diabetes.

Since not all diabetic people belong to the upper class of the society, the researcher decided to focus her study on the effectiveness of corn silk (Zea mays) in reducing blood sugar level. The dried corn silk which is expected to yield a hypoglycemic preparation using simple methodologies will be employed by the researcher. In doing so, a low cost but effective antidiabetic drug may be made available to meet the common health care needs of the majority of the country’s population.

FIELD:
This research study is under the field of biology and medicine since it will utilize a plant material that has an herbal potential and out of this will formulate an anti-diabetic drug.

DATE STARTED:
Collection of data related to the study started in November 2008.

WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT?
The research will focus on the hypoglycemic activity of corn silk extract on the blood glucose level of the diabetic-induced Swiss mice. Methodology on how the study will be carried out is still under study.

TARGET:
Presently, the researcher plans to have four trials with four replicates each.