Medicinal plants of India with anti-diabetic potential.

Leads from Indian medicinal plants with hypoglycemic potentials

Medical plants play an important role in the management of diabetes mellitus especially in developing countries where resources are meager. This review presents the profiles of plants with hypoglycaemic properties, reported in the literature from 1990 to 2000. The profiles presented include information about the scientific name, family, methodology used, the degree of hypoglycaemic activity and the active agents. The large number of plants described in this review (176 species belonging to 84 families) clearly demonstrated the importance of herbal plants in the treatment of diabetes. It also shows the effort to isolate new potential antidiabetic agents. The plant families, including the species (sp), most studied for their confirmed hypoglycaemic effects include: Leguminoseae (11 sp), Lamiaceae (7 sp), Liliaceae (8 sp), Cucurbitaceae (7 sp), Asteraceae (6 sp), Moraceae (6 sp), Rosaceae (6 sp), Euphorbiaceae (5 sp) and Araliaceae (5 sp). The most studied species are: Citrullus colocynthis (Opuntia streptacantha Lem. (Cactaceae), Trigonella foenum greacum L. (Leguminosea), Momordica charantia L. (Cucurbitaceae), Ficus bengalensis L. (Moraceae), Polygala senega L. (Polygalaceae), and Gymnema sylvestre R. (Asclepiadaceae). Many studies have confirmed the benefits of medicinal plants with hypoglycaemic effects in the management of diabetes mellitus. The effects of these plants may delay the development of diabetic complications and correct the metabolic abnormalities. Moreover, during the past few years some of the new bioactive drugs isolated from hypoglycaemic plants showed antidiabetic activity with more efficacy than oral hypoglycaemic agents used in clinical therapy. (Int J Diabetes Metab 14: 1-25, 2006)

Medicinal plants with potential antidiabetic activity - a review of ten years of herbal medicine research (1990-2000)

Swertia chirayita (Gentianaceae), a popular medicinal herb indigenous to the temperate Himalayas is used in traditional medicine to treat numerous ailments such as liver disorders, malaria, and diabetes and are reported to have a wide spectrum of pharmacological properties. Its medicinal usage is well-documented in Indian pharmaceutical codex, the British, and the American pharmacopeias and in different traditional medicine such as the Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, and other conventional medical systems. This ethnomedicinal herb is known mostly for its bitter taste caused by the presence of different bioactive compounds that are directly associated with human health welfare. The increasing high usage of Swertia chirayita, mostly the underground tissues, as well as the illegal overharvesting combined with habitat destruction resulted in a drastic reduction of its populations and has brought this plant to the verge of extinction. The increasing national and international demand for Swertia chirayita has led to unscrupulous collection from the wild and adulteration of supplies. The aim of this review is to provide a synthesis of the current state of scientific knowledge on the medicinal uses, phytochemistry, pharmacological activities, safety evaluation as well as the potential role of plant biotechnology in the conservation of Swertia chirayita and to highlight its future prospects. Pharmacological data reported in literature suggest that Swertia chirayita shows a beneficial effect in the treatment of several ailments. However, there is lack of adequate information on the safety evaluation of the plant. The pharmacological usefulness of Swertia chirayita requires the need for conservation-friendly approaches in its utilization. Providing high-quality genetically uniform clones for sustainable use and thereby saving the genetic diversity of this species in nature is important. In this regard, plant biotechnological applications such as micropropagation, synthetic seed production, and hairy root technology can play a significant role in a holistic conservation strategy. In addition to micropropagation, storage of these valuable genetic resources is equally important for germplasm preservation. However, more advanced research is warranted to determine the activities of bioactive compounds in vitro and in vivo, establish their underlying mechanisms of action and commence the process of clinical research.

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A Review of Swertia chirayita (Gentianaceae) as a Traditional Medicinal Plant.

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. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry

Medicinal plant species with potential antidiabetic properties.

Effect of Swerchirin (1:8 dihydroxy 3:5 dimethoxy xanthone) isolated from hexane fraction of Swertia chirayita on the blood sugar level of healthy and streptozotocin treated rats was studied. Streptozotocin was administered in citrate buffer (pH-4.5) intravenously / 35 and 65 mg/kg body wt to Charles Foster strain albino rats. Swerchirin (50 mg/kg, po) suspended in gum acacia was fed through cannula to the above rats and to a group of healthy rats. Blood sugar estimated at 0, 1, 3 and 7 hr after, indicated a very significant lowering in healthy and streptozotocin (35 mg/kg iv) but not in streptozotocin (65 mg/kg) treated rats.

Mukherjee Sk

Papers

Swerchirin induced blood sugar lowering of streptozotocin treated hyperglycemic rats.