Diabetes mellitus is an endocrinological disorder arising from insulin deficiency or due to ineffectiveness of the insulin produced by the body. This results in high blood glucose and with time, to neurological, cardiovascular, retinal and renal complications. It is a debilitating disease and affects the population of every country of the world. Around 200 million people of the world suffer from this disease and this figure is projected to rise to 300 million in the coming years. The disease cannot be cured with allopathic medicine as the drugs used do not restore normal glucose homeostasis and moreover have side-effects. On the other hand, traditional medicinal practitioners of various countries claim to cure diabetes or at least alleviate the major symptoms and progression of this disease through administration of medicinal plants. The Garos are an indigenous community of Bangladesh, who still follow their traditional medicinal practices. Their traditional medicinal formulations contain a number of plants, which they claim to be active antidiabetic agents. Since observation of indigenous practices have led to discovery of many modern drugs, it was the objective of the present study to conduct a survey among the Marakh sect of the Garos residing in Mymensingh district of Bangladesh to find out the medicinal plants that they use for treatment of diabetes. It was found that the tribal practitioners of the Marakh sect of the Garos use twelve medicinal plants for treatment of diabetes. These plants were Lannea coromandelica, Alstonia scholaris, Catharanthus roseus, Enhydra fluctuans, Terminalia chebula, Coccinia grandis, Momordica charantia, Cuscuta reflexa, Phyllanthus emblica, Syzygium aqueum, Drynaria quercifolia, and Clerodendrum viscosum. A review of the scientific literature demonstrated that almost all the plants used by the Garo tribal practitioners have reported antidiabetic and/or antioxidant properties and have enormous potential for possible development of new and efficacious antidiabetic drugs.

https://journals.athmsi.org/index.php/ajtcam/article/download/1431/1051

Medicinal plants used for treatment of diabetes by the marakh sect of the Garo tribe living in Mymensingh district, Bangladesh

Ethno pharmacological relevance: Traditional medicinal plants are practiced worldwide for treatment of arthritis especially in developing countries where resources are meagre. This review presents the plants profiles inhabiting throughout the world regarding their traditional usage by various tribes/ethnic groups for treatment of arthritis.
Materials and methods: Bibliographic investigation was carried out by analysing classical text books and peer reviewed papers, consulting worldwide accepted scientific databases from the last six decades. Plants/their parts/extracts/polyherbal formulations/toxicity studies for arthritis have been included in the review article. The profiles presented also include information about the scientific name, family, dose, methodology along with mechanism of action and toxicity profile. Research status of twenty potential plant species has been discussed. Further, geographical distribution of research, plants distribution according to families has been given in graphical form.
Results: 485 plant species belonging to 100 families, traditionally used in arthritis are used. Among 100 plant families, malvaceae constitute 16, leguminasae 7, fabaceae 13, euphorbiaceae 7, compositae 20, araceae 7, solanaceae 12, liliaceae 9, apocynaceae, lauraceae and rubiaceae 10, and remaining in lesser proportion. It was observed in our study that majority of researches are carried mainly in developing countries like India, China, Korea and Nigeria.
Conclusion: This review clearly indicates that list of medicinal plants presented in this review might be useful to researchers as well as practioners. This review can be useful for preliminary screening of potential anti- arthritis plants. Further toxicity profile given in the review can be useful for the researchers for finding the safe dose.

Medicinal plants with potential anti-arthritic activity:

Alstonia scholaris (L.) R. Br. and Alstonia macrophylla Wall. ex G. Don: A comparative review on traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology.

The family Apocynaceae is one of the largest and important families in angiosperm. Several members of this family have medicinal properties and have been in the treatment of various ailments. Most of them are consumed as food by tribal people whereas a few plants are used as source of poison. Members of family Apocynaceae are rich in alkaloids, terpenoids, steroids, flavonoids, glycosides, simple phenols, lactones, and hydrocarbons. Other compounds such as sterols, lignans, sugars, lignans, and lactones have been isolated and systematically studied. Few studies have reported antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic activities of crude extracts as well as single compound(s) isolated from various members of the family Apocynaceae. Holarrhena antidysenterica, Rauvolfia serpentina, Carissa carandas, and Tabernaemontana divaricata are the extensively studied plants in this family. The present review provides a detailed outlook on ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, and biological activities of selected members of this family. Moreover, it also covers the biotechnological advances used for large-scale production of bioactive compounds of therapeutic interest along with plant tissue culture-based approaches for conservation of this medicinally valuable family.

Ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, and biotechnological advances of family Apocynaceae: A review.

Objective
To evaluate antidiabetic and hypolipidemic activities of Kigelia pinnata methanolic flowers extract in streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic wistar rat.

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

streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetes in rats. The diabetes was induced by single dose of STZ (65 mg/kg) in citrate buffer, while the normal control group was given the vehicle (citrate buffer) only. After three days of induction of diabetes, the diabetic animals were treated further four weeks with aqueous extract of Alstonia scholaris bark (150 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg) and glibenclamide (4 mg/kg). Blood glucose estimation was performed every week of the study. At the end of study period, animals were sacrificed for biochemical studies. STZ-induced diabetic rats showed marked hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia at the end of study period. Body weight and liver glycogen levels were reduced and glycosylated haemoglobin levels were significantly increased in diabetic rats. The four week treatment with aqueous extract of Alstonia scholaris bark (150 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg) significantly ameliorated the alterations in fasting blood glucose, serum triglyceride, serum cholesterol, liver glycogen. glycosylated haemoglobin and body weight in diabetic rats. Thus the present study suggested the potential of Alstonia scholaris bark in diabetes as well as related cardiovascular complications due to its antidiabetic and antihyperlipidemic properties.

Manasi Juvekar

Papers

Antidiabetic and Antihyperlipidemic Effect of Alstonia Scholaris Linn Bark in Streptozotocin Induced Diabetic Rats