Medicinal plant species with potential antidiabetic properties

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is one of the world's major diseases. It currently affects an estimated 143 million people worldwide and the number is growing rapidly. In the USA alone, about 20.8 million or 7% of the population suffer from diabetes or related complications. The estimated direct and indirect costs of diabetes exceed US$132 billion annually. Plant-based medicinal products have been known since ancient times, and several medicinal plants and their products (active natural principles and crude extracts) have been used to control diabetes in the traditional medicinal systems of many cultures worldwide, including those of the Asian Indians, Chinese and South Americans. A limited number of these plant species have been studied and validated for their hypoglycaemic properties using diabetic animal models and in clinical studies using human subjects. Several oral hypoglycaemic agents are the primary forms of treatment for diabetes. However, prominent side-effects of such drugs are the main reason for an increasing number of people seeking alternative therapies that may have less severe or no side-effects. Thus plant-based herbal drugs or botanicals are emerging as the primary components of holistic approaches to diabetes management. In this review, selected species that have been validated for their hypoglycaemic or antihyperglycaemic properties using laboratory diabetic animal models and in clinical trials using human subjects, and reported in refereed journals are presented.

α-Amylase Inhibitors: A Review of Raw Material and Isolated Compounds from Plant Source

“…Differences in percentage of inhibition were also observed for rosmarinic acid [28] and daidzein [15a]. Inhibitions of 85% and 50% for rosmarinic acid and 23% and 55% for daidzein were shown in the assays using starch and ρ-nitrophenyl-α-D-maltopentaoside (PNPG) as a substrate, respectively (6,41,62,63).…”

“…About 800 plant species have been reported to possess antidiabetic properties. A wide range of plant-derived principles belonging to compounds, mainly alkaloids, glycosides, galactomannan gum, polysaccharides, hypoglycans, peptidoglycans, guanidine, steroids, glycopeptides and terpenoids, have demonstrated bioactivity against hyperglycaemia (28). A list of plants reported to have significant α-amylase inhibitory activity is shown in Table 1.…”

“…The aqueous extracts from S. cumini seeds and P. guajava leaves both showed a dosedependent inhibitory effect on α-amylase activity (29). The extract from seeds of S. cumini also significantly decreased the levels of blood glucose on diabetic rats (28,30 Ayurveda, the traditional Indian herbal medicinal system practiced for over thousands of years have reports of antidiabetic plants with no apparent known side effects (34,35). Chloroform extracts of six plants namely Azadirachta indica A. Juss, S. cumini, Ocimum tenuflorum L., Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng., and Linum usitatissimum L., traditionally used in Ayurveda along with Bougainvillea spectabilis Willd.…”

A study on the hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of an ayurvedic drug Rajanyamalakadi in diabetic patients

“…The roots and stems of Salacia reticulata also contain potent antidiabetic chemical constituents. Mangiferin (9) ( a xanthone from the roots) and sulfonium ion derivatives, kotalanol (10) and salacinol(from the roots and stems) (11), have been identified as the antidiabetic principles. Mangiferin also inhibits aldose reductase activity, thereby delaying the onset or progression of diabetic complications.…”

Evaluation of In-vitro Antidiabetic and Hypolipidaemic Activities of Extracts Citrus Lemon Fruit

“…A wide array of numerous chemical compounds has demonstrated activity consistent with their possible use in the treatment of diabetes [9][10][11][12]. Different plants have been reported to show α-amylase inhibitory activity and so may be relevant to the treatment of diabetes [13,14]. The potential role of the medicinal plants as inhibitors…”