Pengaruh Ekstrak Etanol Buah Pare terhadap Kadar Interleukin-6 (IL-6) Serum sebagai Indikator Inflamasi Sistemik pada Tikus Model Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is associated with low-grade systemic inflammation characterized by increased proinflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-6 (IL-6). Bitter melon (Momordica charantia L.) contains bioactive compounds with potential anti-inflammatory activity. This study aimed to assess serum IL-6 absorbance values in diabetic rats following administration of ethanolic bitter melon fruit extract. This laboratory experimental study used a post-test only control group design and included 25 male Wistar rats randomly allocated to five groups (n = 5 each): a negative control, a glibenclamide positive control, and three extract groups receiving 50, 30, or 10 mg/200 g body weight for 14 days. Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal alloxan at 150 mg/kg body weight. Serum IL-6 absorbance was measured using ELISA and analyzed with the Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests. Absorbance values differed among groups (H = 22.587; p < 0.001). Median absorbance values were 0.102 in the negative control, 0.052 in the positive control, and 0.056, 0.060, and 0.063 in the 50, 30, and 10 mg/200 g body-weight groups, respectively. Descriptively, the higher extract dose groups showed lower median absorbance values. However, pairwise results should be interpreted as exploratory because no adjustment for multiple comparisons was applied. These preliminary findings are limited by the absence of a standard curve to calculate IL-6 concentrations and by the small sample size.