Medicinal plants of India with anti-diabetic potential.

Traditional Medicines derived from medicinal plants are used by about 60% of the world's population. This review focuses on Indian Herbal drugs and plants used in the treatment of diabetes, especially in India. Diabetes is an important human ailment afflicting many from various walks of life in different countries. In India it is proving to be a major health problem, especially in the urban areas. Though there are various approaches to reduce the ill effects of diabetes and its secondary complications, herbal formulations are preferred due to lesser side effects and low cost. A list of medicinal plants with proven antidiabetic and related beneficial effects and of herbal drugs used in treatment of diabetes is compiled. These include, Allium sativum, Eugenia jambolana, Momordica charantia Ocimum sanctum, Phyllanthus amarus, Pterocarpus marsupium, Tinospora cordifolia, Trigonella foenum graecum and Withania somnifera. One of the etiologic factors implicated in the development of diabetes and its complications is the damage induced by free radicals and hence an antidiabetic compound with antioxidant properties would be more beneficial. Therefore information on antioxidant effects of these medicinal plants is also included.

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Indian Herbs and Herbal Drugs Used for the Treatment of Diabetes

Leads from Indian medicinal plants with hypoglycemic potentials

Anti-hyperglycemic effect of Eugenia jambolana and Tinospora cordifolia in experimental diabetes and their effects on key metabolic enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism.

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)

The extract of jaman pulp from fruit of Eugenia jambolana showed hypoplycemic activity This report is the first evidence of such activity in relation to pulp The effect of pulp was seen in 30 min, while the seeds of the same fruit required 24 hr The extracts of bark of Ficus bengalensis caused reduction in blood sugar level These results were confirmed in streptozotocin-induced diabetic animals The oral administration of the extract resulted in enhancement in serum insulin levels in normoglycemic and diabetic rats The incubation of isolated islets of Langerhans from normal as well as from diabetic animals with each of these plant extracts stimulated insulin secretion These extracts inhibited insulinase activity from liver and kidney

Hypoglycemic activity of Eugenia jambolana and Ficus bengalensis: mechanism of action.

Suspension cultures of Catharanthus roseus were established from three different cell lines namely, CWS, CWS-A and CWS-G on MS medium supplemented with 2,4-D (0.4 ppm). The three cell lines were cultured in growth and production media. Cell line CWS grown in production medium showed a PCV (packed cell volume) of 70% in 21 days. The cells synthesized 0.10% ajmalicine in the production medium and the cell extract caused a 71% decrease in blood sugar in diabetes induced rats. In growth medium the cells showed a PCV of 97% in 21 days and produced trace amounts of alkaloids. The cell extracts did not show any antidiabetic activity. The CWS-A cell line showed a PCV of 98% in 21 days and synthesized 0.036% ajmalicine in production medium. The extracts had no hypoglycaemic effect. In growth medium the cells showed a 98% PCV in 21 days and produced trace amounts of alkaloids. The cell extract caused an 86% decrease in blood sugar. The CWS-G cell line grown in flasks failed to synthesize significant levels of alkaloids both in growth and production media. The cell extracts did not show any antidiabetic activity.

S. M. Kelkar

Papers

Hypoglycemic activity of Eugenia jambolana and Ficus bengalensis: mechanism of action.

Catharanthus roseus cell cultures: Growth, alkaloid synthesis and antidiabetic activity