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

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 becured 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 manymodern 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

In vitro antioxidant, -amylase and -glucosidase activities of methanol extracts from three Momordica species

Antioxidant based drug preparations are used in the prevention and management of complex diseases which include atherosclerosis, stroke, diabetes, alzheimer’s disease and cancer. Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder of glucose metabolism. The management of blood glucose level is the hallmark in the treatment of this ailment, which may be achieved through the use of oral hypoglycemic drugs such as biguanides, insulin secretagogues, and -amylase and glucosidase inhibitors. Although several biological activities had been reported for  Momordica foetida and Momordica charantia; it appears there is limited information on the  biological activity of Momordica cissoides. The purpose of this study is to compare the antioxidant, -amylase and -glucosidase inhibitory activities of Momordica charantia (M1), Momordica foetida (M2), and Momordica cissoides  (M3) to establish a chemotaxonomic relationship between them. The antioxidant activities measured by DPPH scavenging properties, metal ion chelation, hydrogen peroxide scavenging and ABTS revealed that M. foetida had the highest inhibition potential, followed by M. charantia and the least being M. cissoides. In contrast, the antioxidant activities measured by FRAP,  the total phenolic content , flavonoids and tannins revealed that M. cissoides had the best antioxidant potential, while M. foetida had the least activity. The comparative α-amylase and glucosidase inhibitory studies performed demonstrated that the extracts of M.cissoides had the highest inhibitory potentials. Thus, the plant can be used in the management of diabetes

Food prospects and nutraceutical attributes of Momordica species: A potential tropical bioresources – A review

AbstractPlants with potential therapeutic values have been used from time immemorial to cure various ailments and infectious diseases. Of late, scientific evidences have been provided on the potential therapeutic agent exhibited by certain traditionally used vegetable extracts. The importance of wild edible plants may be traced to antiquity but systemic studies are recent. All the Momordica species have been consumed as vegetable and traditionally used for various disorders. The whole plant parts are ascribed to possess the anti-diabetic effect in traditional medicinal system. The active constituents of Momordica plant parts were cucurbitane type triterpenoids, phenolics, glycosides, and several kinds of peptides including Momordica anti-HIV protein (MAP 30). Recent reports revealed the presence of several kinds of cucurbitane type triterpenoids in leaf, stem and fruits of Momordica species having several pharmacological activities. There is lack of scientific information available on the wild species which also having several bioactive components with potential activities. So the present review compares and highlights the current knowledge of the nutritional value, phytochemistry and physiological effects of wild species with known variety

The Hypolipidemic Effect of Mountain Papaya and Bitter Melon Fruit Ethanolic Extract in Diabetic Rats

Traditional medicine has been developed rapidly throughout the world to treat hyperlipidemia. However, the use of a single compound in hyperlipidemia treatment usually have low efficacy. Therefore, a combination of ingredients is bound to have  more synergistic impact in therapy. This research aimed to examine the hypolipidemic potential of mountain papaya (MPE) and bitter melon fruit ethanolic extract (BME) in alloxan-induced rats. Forty rats divided into eight groups were used in this study. Groups are divided into normal control, negative control, positive control, as well as MPE and BME groups which divided into single doses and three combination doses. Induction of 150 mg/kg alloxan intraperitoneally were performed to generate a model of diabetes and hyperlipidemia. The treatment was carried out for four weeks of the experiment. The single and combination doses of both extracts sufficiently exhibited hypolipidemic activity (p < 0.05). The levels of lipid profiles total such as cholesterol, triacylglycerides, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, and very high-density lipoprotein were decreased after MPE and BME administration (p < 0.05). The combination of MPE and BME also has hypolipidemic action equivalent to simvastatin. The single and combined doses of mountain papaya, as well as bitter melon fruit ethanolic extracts, have the potential to improve the biochemical (lipid profile) modifications of alloxan-induced

Antioxidant and antidiabetic properties of Chinese and Indian bitter melons (Momordica charantia L.)

Bitter melon (Momordica charantia L.) has been used for anti-diabetes treatment for decades. Indian and Chinese bitter melons (BM) are two commonly produced cultivars in the US market. This study has comparatively evaluated the effects of two processing methods (fresh and freeze-drying) on Chinese and Indian BM by measuring their bioactivity in terms of total phenolic content (TPC), total triterpene content (TTC), antioxidant activity, and antidiabetic properties using the DPPH free radical scavenging and reducing power assays, and the α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition assays. The TPC (GAE mg/g dw) in freeze-dried BM were 6.03 and 6.09, and in fresh BM were 4.81 and 4.83 for Indian and Chinese BM, respectively. The TTC (OAE mg/g dw) in Indian BM were 7.25 and 5.63, and in Chinese BM were 5.88 and 3.87 for fresh and freeze-dried samples, respectively. TPC and TTC in the freeze-dried BM samples were significantly higher than that in the fresh ones (p \u3c 0.05). The DPPH IC50 of India BM was significantly lower than that of Chinese BM (p \u3c 0.05). All BM samples ranged from 9.18 to 18.6 mg/ml. The reducing power was significantly different between Indian and Chinese BM (p \u3c 0.01) for fresh samples, but after freeze-drying, there was no detectable difference in reducing power (p ≥ 0.05). The Indian BM showed a significantly stronger α-glucosidase inhibition effect as compared to the Chinese BM. TTC was positively correlated with reducing power (p \u3c 0.05). TPC was negatively correlated with α-amylase inhibition efficiency (p \u3c 0.05)

Phytomedicine for Diabetes mellitus: An overview

Diabetes mellitus is a complex metabolic disorder resulting from either insulin insufficiency or insulin dysfunction. Diabetes mellitus affect most of the people of both developed and developing countries. The treatment of diabetes with synthetic drugs is costly and chances of side effects are high. Phytomedicine has been used since ancient time in many parts of the world where access to modern medicine is limited. Low-fat vegan diet has improved glycemic control in type II diabetic patients. Photochemical identified from medicinal plants presents an exciting opportunity for the development of new types of therapeutics for diabetes mellitus. Most prevalent of photochemical groups are the alkaloids, terpenes, and phenolics. Several formulations like herbal teas, extracts, decoctions, infusions, tinctures, etc are prepared from medicinal plants. Despite considerable progress in the development of synthetic drugs, the search for the invention of phytomedicine as alternative therapy is progressing

Medicinal Plants with Multiple Effects on Diabetes Mellitus and Its Complications: a Systematic Review

Abstract Purpose of Review This systematic review describes evidence concerning medicinal plants that, in addition to exerting hypoglycemic effects, decrease accompanying complications such as nephropathy, neuropathy, retinopathy, hypertension, and/or hyperlipidemia among individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM). Recent Findings Studies on the antidiabetic mechanisms of medicinal plants have shown that most of them produce hypoglycemic activity by stimulating insulin secretion, augmenting peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), inhibiting αamylase or α-glucosidase, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) secretion, advanced glycation end product (AGE) formation, free radical scavenging plus antioxidant activity (against reactive oxygen or nitrogen species (ROS/RNS)), up-regulating or elevating translocation of glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT-4), and preventing development of insulin resistance. Summary Not only are medicinal plants effective in DM, but many of them also possess a variety of effects on other disease states, including the complications of DM. Such plants may be appropriate alternatives or adjuncts to available antidiabetic medication

TRADITIONAL AYURVEDIC HERBS USED FOR TREATMENTS OF DIABETES MELLITUS: SCOPE AND A REVIEW

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder affecting many organs of the body with severs complication if untreated. In India, diabetes is leading major disorder mainly affecting in the urban areas due to change of life style, lack of attention towards exercise and hectic schedule. There is huge availability of allopathic medicines for better treatment but have side effects also. Indian traditional herbs are also used from ancient times for different treatment. Herbal formulations for diabetes are the proven and effective medicines in India and variety of medicinal plant are used to treat complications of diabetes. These Ayurvedic plants and parts of plants have different chemical constituents and can be used as a medicine. These contents also have a rich sources of antioxidant property that used to control the free radical formation. In this research review, our aim is to cover traditional herb and plants from India having anti-diabetes activity, its chemical constitution and active ingredients used for treatment. These plants if we start to used with or without allopathic drug treatment on daily basis can make big differences for control and management of diabetes.&nbsp

Medicinal Plants with Multiple Effects on Diabetes Mellitus and Its Complications: a Systematic Review

Purpose of Review This systematic review describes evidence concerning medicinal plants that, in addition to exerting hypo- glycemic effects, decrease accompanying complications such as nephropathy, neuropathy, retinopathy, hypertension, and/or hyperlipidemia among individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM). Recent Findings Studies on the antidiabetic mechanisms of medicinal plants have shown that most of them produce hypogly- cemic activity by stimulating insulin secretion, augmenting peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), inhibiting α- amylase or α -glucosidase, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) secretion, advanced glycation end product (AGE) formation, free radical scavenging plus antioxidant activity (against reactive oxygen or nitrogen species (ROS/RNS)), up-regulating or elevating translocation of glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT-4), and preventing development of insulin resistance. Summary Not only are medicinal plants effective in DM, but many of them also possess a variety of effects on other disease states, including the complications of DM. Such plants may be appropriate a lternatives or adjuncts to availa ble antidiabetic medication