Bioactive Compounds in Anti-Diabetic Plants: From Herbal Medicine to Modern Drug Discovery

Abstract

Natural products, including organisms (plants, animals, or microorganisms) have been shown to possess health benefits for animals and humans. According to the estimation of the World Health Organization, in developing countries, 80% of the population has still depended on traditional medicines or folk medicines which are mostly prepared from the plant for prevention or treatment diseases. Traditional medicine from plant extracts has proved to be more affordable, clinically effective and relatively less adverse effects than modern drugs. Literature shows that the attention on the application of phytochemical constituents of medicinal plants in the pharmaceutical industry has increased significantly. Plant-derived secondary metabolites are small molecules or macromolecules biosynthesized in plants including steroids, alkaloids, phenolic, lignans, carbohydrates and glycosides, etc. that possess a diversity of biological properties beneficial to humans, such as their antiallergic, anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic and antioxidant activities Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease result of metabolic disorders in pancreas β-cells that have hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia can be caused by a deficiency of insulin production by pancreatic (Type 1 diabetes mellitus) or insufficiency of insulin production in the face of insulin resistance (Type 2 diabetes mellitus). The current medications of diabetes mellitus focus on controlling and lowering blood glucose levels in the vessel to a normal level. However, most modern drugs have many side effects causing some serious medical problems during a period of treating. Therefore, traditional medicines have been used for a long time and play an important role as alternative medicines. Moreover, during the past few years, some of the new bioactive drugs isolated from plants showed antidiabetic activity with more efficacy than oral hypoglycemic agents used in clinical therapy. Traditional medicine performed a good clinical practice and is showing a bright future in the therapy of diabetes mellitus. World Health Organization has pointed out this prevention of diabetes and its complications is not only a major challenge for the future, but essential if health for all is to be attained. Therefore, this paper briefly reviews active compounds, and pharmacological effects of some popular plants which have been widely used in diabetic treatment. Morphological data from V-herb database of each species was also included for plant identification.

Methyl Caffeate Isolated from the Flowers of Prunus persica (L.) Batsch Enhances Glucose-Stimulated Insulin Secretion

“…Among the isolated compounds, caffeic acid (5), methyl caffeate (6), ferulic acid (7), chlorogenic acid (8), naringenin (11), nicotiflorin (12), and astragalin (13) increased GSIS. Our results are in agreement with previous studies, which showed that caffeic acid (5) [16,17], ferulic acid (7) [18], chlorogenic acid (8), naringenin (11) [17], and astragalin (13) [19] have been reported to increase insulin secretion [20]. Whereas each compound was previously isolated from a different plant, in our study, PRPE with GSIS effect contained all these compounds, with the addition of methyl caffeate (6), chlorogenic acid (8), and nicotiflorin (12), for which no GSIS effect was reported.…”

“…Interestingly, methyl caffeate (6) has a better effect than its free acid form, caffeic acid (5). Several studies on the biological activities of methyl caffeate (6) have reported its neuroprotective [36], anticancer [37], antioxidant [38], and anti-inflammatory effects [39] as well as antimicrobial and antimycobacterial activities [40].…”

“…Natural ingredients have been isolated from herbal medicine with anti-T2DM properties, and their possible mechanisms have been elucidated [ 4 , 5 ]. Polypeptide-p isolated from Momordica charantia , a bioactive natural ingredient from herbal medicine, has been reported to act as insulin [ 6 ], and epicatechin isolated from Pterocarpus marsupium induces pancreatic islet β-cell regeneration [ 7 ].…”

Exploring Therapeutic Efficacy of Coriandrum Sativum and Allium Sativum Aggregate in Alloxan-induced Diabetic Mice

“…Diabetes mellitus exists as type 1 diabetes, which is caused by failure of pancreas to produce sufficient insulin for the body, and type II diabetes which results from the inability of the body to efficiently utilize insulin leading to enhanced blood glucose concentration in body; complications can result including hypertension, kidney disorder, eye damage, nerve damage, damage to blood vessels, lower lib amputation, heart damage, stroke and blindness 3,4 .…”

“…At present, for controlling glucose level, the modern medicines recommended for diabetes are classified into six categories (i.e. biguanides (metformin), alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, meglitinides (glinides), sulfonylureas, thiazolidinediones (glitazones), and DPP-4 inhibitors) and two types of injections 4 . However, several side and adverse effects of such medications are known including gastrointestinal disorder, nausea, diarrhea, compromised renal function, de-compensated heart failure, liver disease, weight gain, cardiovascular risks and increased risk of heart attack 5 .…”