Traditional plant treatments for diabetes. Studies in normal and streptozotocin diabetic mice

Abstract

The effects on glucose homeostasis of eleven plants used as traditional treatments for diabetes mellitus were evaluated in normal and streptozotocin diabetic mice. Dried leaves of agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria), alfalfa (Medicago sativa), blackberry (Rubus fructicosus), celandine (Chelidonium majus), eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), lady's mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris), and lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis); seeds of coriander (Coriandrum sativum); dried berries of juniper (Juniperus communis); bulbs of garlic (Allium sativum) and roots of liquorice (Glycyrhizza glabra) were studied. Each plant material was supplied in the diet (6.25% by weight) and some plants were additionally supplied as decoctions or infusions (1 g/400 ml) in place of drinking water to coincide with the traditional method of preparation. Food and fluid intake, body weight gain, plasma glucose and insulin concentrations in normal mice were not altered by 12 days of treatment with any of the plants. After administration of streptozotocin (200 mg/kg i.p.) on day 12 the development of hyperphagia, polydipsia, body weight loss, hyperglycaemia and hypoinsulinaemia were not affected by blackberry, celandine, lady's mantle or lily of the valley. Garlic and liquorice reduced the hyperphagia and polydipsia but did not significantly alter the hyperglycaemia or hypoinsulinaemia. Treatment with agrimony, alfalfa, coriander, eucalyptus and juniper reduced the level of hyperglycaemia during the development of streptozotocin diabetes. This was associated with reduced polydipsia (except coriander) and a reduced rate of body weight loss (except agrimony). Alfalfa initially countered the hypoinsulinaemic effect of streptozotocin, but the other treatments did not affect the fall in plasma insulin. The results suggest that certain traditional plant treatments for diabetes, namely agrimony, alfalfa, coriander, eucalyptus and juniper, can retard the development of streptozotocin diabetes in mice.

Synthesis and characterization of Solanum nigrum-mediated silver nanoparticles and its protective effect on alloxan-induced diabetic rats

“…Figure 5 demonstrates the level of changes in body weight of experimental rats at before and after treatment. Weight loss is one of the major syndrome associated with diabetes, probably due to muscle wasting [37]. In our study the diabetic-induced rat group (Group II) showed significant weight loss (Fig.…”

Antidiabetic and hypolipidemic activities of Kigelia pinnata flowers extract in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats

“…Normal healthy animals were found to be stable in their body weight whereas diabetic animals showed reduction in body weight. The decrease in weight in diabetes was due to the increased muscle wasting and loss of tissue proteins [27][28][29] . In the study, the reduction of body weight was diminished by extracts treatment after 21 days of treatment in a dose dependent manner.…”

In vitro free radical scavenging and DNA damage protective property of Coriandrum sativum L. leaves extract

“…Different parts of the plant, including the fruits and the green herbs, are used for medicinal purposes such as dyspeptic complaints and loss of appetite (Blumenthal et al 2000). Pharmacological studies in animals have shown that coriander has anti-diabetic (Swanston-Flatt et al 1990;Gray and Flatt 1999), hypolipidemic, (Chithra and Leelamma 1997; and anti-cancer effects (Chithra and Leelamma 2000). Sedative-hypnotic activity of coriander seeds have been evaluated in scientific studies in mice (Emamghoreishi et al 2005).…”