Evaluation of 100 most cited research articles on African medicinal plants

The mission for drug discovery and progress has prompt researchers to scientifically validate the therapeutic uses of medicinal plants available worldwide, of which, African medicinal plants serve as a great reservoir. Despite the extensive work in the field of medicinal plants of African origin, however, bibliometric report on the work conducted on African medicinal plants is scarce, and hence, the present study aimed at evaluating the top 100 most cited articles on medicinal plant wealth of Africa. The literature data used for the bibliometric analysis was explored from Web of Science (WoS) while RStudio and VOSviewer software were used for data analysis and collaboration network visualization, respectively. The most prolific authors were Van Staden J, Jager AK, Teklehaymanot T whereas, the top 3 journals were Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, and South African Journal of Botany. Most cited journals were Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry, Phytotherapy Research. The topmost institutions in terms of the number of articles were the University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of Addis Ababa and Pretoria. South Africa was the most cited country followed by Nigeria. Single country publications dominated the field and therefore, multiple country collaboration should be a focus of social networks among the researchers in the field

Can Lifestyle Factors of Diabetes Mellitus Patients Affect Their Fertility?

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Anti-Diabetic Effects of Nigerian Indigenous Plant Foods/Diets

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Utilization of the Primary Health Care Services in the Tshwane Region of Gauteng Province, South Africa

BACKGROUND: In South Africa, the provision of primary health care is a basic service designed to be cost effective and bring healthcare as close as possible to the population, particularly to those people of low economic status. It is a service which is provided free of charge by the South African government and as part of the millennium health goals, it is intended that the service should be accessible to the populace and be effectively utilized. OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to investigate the accessibility and utilization of the primary health care services in three community health care centres in the Tshwane of the Gauteng Province, South Africa. METHODOLOGY: Data were obtained from participants attending three Community Health Care Centres in the Tshwane Region using self-administered structured questionnaires. A document review of the Community Health Care Centres records was conducted to investigate the utilization trends of the services provided and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data obtained. RESULTS: The results showed that the Community Health Care Centres in the Tshwane Region are accessible to most participants who lived within 5 km of such centres and who traveled 30 minutes or less to the clinic. Using a taxi or walking were found to be the most common means of transport used to gain access to such a clinic. The findings showed that generally, participants were satisfied with the services provided. CONCLUSION: Participants of this study have access to the community health care centres in the Tshwane Region and there seems to be effective utilization by patients attending them

Antidiabetic Botanicals and their Potential Benefits in the Management of Diabetes Mellitus

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Therapeutic potentials and pharmacological properties of Moringa oleifera Lam in the treatment of diabetes mellitus and related complications

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major health problem not only in urban areas, but also in rural areas. DM is a metabolic disorder resulting from abnormal insulin secretion. This leads to chronic hyperglycemia with disturbances of carbohydrate metabolism. Hyperglycemic-induced oxidative stress has been shown to be actively involved in the onset and progression of diabetes. Plants have played a vital role in improving the quality of life and maintaining human health.It also serves as important components for medicines, beverages and seasonings. Many plants contain flavonoids, glycosides, alkaloids, terpenoids, and carotenoids with anti-diabetic and antioxidant properties. Moringa oleifera (MO) is one of such plants which have been used for centuries as a folk remedy for the treatment and management of various diseases including diabetes. This review is aimed at providing an overview of the potentials of MO in the treatment and management of diabetes and its possible applications in the treatment of other diseases.Keywords: Moringa oleifera, Diabetes mellitus, Hyperglycemia, Oxidative stres

Antioxidant -Rich Natural Products and Diabetes Mellitus

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Vindoline effectively ameliorated diabetes-induced hepatotoxicity by docking oxidative stress, inflammation and hypertriglyceridemia in type 2 diabetes-induced male Wistar rats

CITATION: Gobozaa, M., et al. 2019. Vindoline effectively ameliorated diabetes-induced hepatotoxicity by docking oxidative stress, inflammation and hypertriglyceridemia in type 2 diabetes-induced male Wistar rats. Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy, 112:108638, doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2019.108638.The original publication is available at https://www.sciencedirect.comENGLISH ABSTRACT: Vindoline, an indole alkaloid present in the leaves of Catharanthus roseus plant, has been recently reported to have insulotropic effects. This present study evaluated the possible hepatoprotective effects of vindoline in a type 2 diabetes mellitus rat model. Diabetes mellitus was induced by exposing rats to 10% fructose water for two weeks followed by a single intraperitoneal injection of 40 mg/kg body weight of streptozotocin (STZ). Rats were randomly divided into six groups (n = 8) and treated daily for 6 weeks with the vehicle via oral gavage, vindoline (20 mg/kg) or glibenclamide (5 mg/kg). Weekly fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels and body weight were measured and recorded. Administration of vindoline significantly (p < 0.05) reduced FBG by 15% when compared to the diabetic controls. Vindoline significantly (p < 0.05) decreased diabetes-induced hepatic injury shown by decreased levels of serum alanine transferase (ALT) (-42%), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (-42%) and alkaline phosphatase (-62%) compared to the diabetic controls. The oxygen radical absorbance capacity and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were also improved following treatment with vindoline. The results also showed decreased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-ɑ by (-41%) and IL-6 (-28%) which may have also contributed to the reduction of serum triglycerides (-65%) in the diabetic group treated with vindoline. Histopathological findings showed improvement of both the hepatic and pancreatic tissues following vindoline treatment. Overall, these findings suggest that vindoline may protect the diabetic hepatic tissue from injury via antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-hypertriglyceredemia mechanisms thereby retarding the development of diabetic complications.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332218374663?via%3DihubPublisher's versio