IntroductionDiabetes is becoming a public health burden for sub-Saharan countries due to its prevalence which is growing rapidly. Traditional medicine is more and more used to treat diabetes in RD Congo as well as in other African countries. This study was undertaken in order to list plants used in the management of diabetes by traditional healers in four agglomerations of southern area of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo.MethodsForty-nine traditional healers were randomly met and interviewed about diabetes treatment in traditional medicine. The survey concerned the plant identification, their part used, method of preparation and the route of administration. The inquest concerned also traditional medicine users.ResultsNinety-five plants from 47 families were indicated as antidiabetic. Fabaceae (24.2%), Euphorbiaceae (7.4%), Apocynaceae and Strychnaceae (4.2 each) are the more representative families. This inventory showed that the root is the most used part of the cited plants, the decoction with water as the main preparation method and the oral administration as the principal way to give antidiabetic traditional formulations.ConclusionIn Lubumbashi region, many plant species are used to treat diabetes either through traditional praticians or by anyone from well-known ancestral knowledge.

The aim of this study was to assess the hypoglycemic and antihyperglycemic activities of nine plants used as antidiabetic treatments in Lubumbashi and its surroundings. Those are Albizia adianthifolia, Azanza garckeana, Cassia occidentalis, Cassia sieberiana, Erythrina abyssinica, Gladiolus klattianus, Rauvolfia caffra, Strychnos spinosa, and Vitex madiensis. Aqueous extracts, obtained by decoction and maceration, were administered (500 mg/kg) per os to guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus), both in glucose baseline conditions and in oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) conditions (glucose, 2 g/kg; follow-up over 210 min). For OGTT experiments, area under the curve of blood glucose levels, maximum glucose concentration (Cmax), and time to reach Cmax (Tmax) were used to compare test groups with the control conditions (glucose group). In hypoglycemic tests, only three species induced significant (p < 0.001) lowering of normal glycemia: A. adianthifolia (33% reduction), C. occidentalis (32%), and V. madiensis (43%); in the same conditions, the positive control glibenclamide (6 mg/kg) induced a blood glucose lowering of 55%. In OGTT conditions, all tested herbs were active, with the highest inhibition of glycemia increases for V. madiensis (62%) and A. adianthifolia (57%), compared with the hyperglycemic inhibition rate of glibenclamide (50%). Oral glucose tolerance test conditions appear as essential to detect the extracts most interesting for clinical use. These data support the use of studied plants for diabetes treatment in traditional Congolese medicine and indicate a good knowledge of tradipraticians in the field. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Afin de contribuer à l'inventaire des plantes médicinales utilisées contre la schistosomiase urogénitale à Lubumbashi et ses environs, une enquête ethnobotanique a été entreprise auprès de 43 tradipraticiens. Elle a permis d'inventorier 61 espèces utilisées contre la schistosomiase urogénitale. Ces espèces sont contenues dans 32 familles et appartiennent à 55 genres différents. Il a été aussi dégagé que ces mêmes espèces végétales sont aussi utilisées dans 37 autres indications dont les vers intestinaux et le paludisme. Diverses parties de ces plantes (écorces de racine et de tige, feuilles, fruits, graines, rhizomes et tubercules) servent par divers modes de préparation (décoction, infusion, macération, expression, pulvérisation) à confectionner diverses recettes. Plusieurs modes d'administration sont exploités : boisson, application locale, bain de vapeur, instillations buccales, nasales, vaginales et lavement. La voie orale reste le mode d'administration le plus exploité.

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