The Nile catfish, CLarias gariepinus was treated with aqueous fenugreek seeds (Trigonella foenum-graecum) suspension (AFSS), either separately or in combination with either glucose or alloxan for 5, 24hr (single dose) and 4days (repeated doses). Serum glucose, total free amino acids (TFAA), total lipids (TL), triglycerides (TR), cholesterol (CHO), total protein (TP), urea, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) as well as glycogen, TFAA, TL, TR contents of liver, white and red muscles were determined. Besides muscle CHO, liver AST, ALT and urea were measured. In addition, histological and ultrastructural changes of the liver were examined after 4 days.
Marked hypoglycemia was induced in fish treated with AFSS, while normoglycemia was detected in fish groups treated with AFSS plus glucose or AFSS plus alloxan. These results were accompanied with an elevation in the level of muscle glycogen. Also, AFSS was found to raise the red and white muscle storage of lipids and triglycerides. The results may also reveal that fenugreek seeds stimulate both muscle glycogenesis and lipogenesis, probably at expense of blood glucose. Normal levels of blood sugar, TL, CHO, ALT and ALP as well as liver TL in the fish treated with AFSS plus alloxan were detected.
Regarding the histological ultrastructural observations, the administration of AFSS plus alloxan induced some changes in the liver cells including necrosis, disruption of rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER) and appearance of vacuoles in cytoplasm. Moreover, there was no change in the liver cells in response to AFSS solely or AFSS plus glucose treatments. The only observation was the enlargement of the liver nuclei in all treated fish groups as compared with control.