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Re:Anti-diabetic Potential and Indian Medicinal Plants
Grover J, Yadav S, Vats V. Medicinal plants of India with anti-diabetic potential Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 2002;81:81-100.
With 222 citations from the Medline database, this is an exhaustive presentation of research into 45 plants used in traditional Indian medicine and found to have potential in treating diabetes mellitus. Research also includes complications such as diabetic nephropathy and neuropathy, fructose induced insulin resistance, and cataract. Ethnobotanical information identifies about 800 Indian plants (of more than 45,000 species found in India) which may have anti-diabetic potential. For each plant, the authors discuss botanical characteristics, range, and habitat; traditional uses in India and in other parts of the world; and research findings, including plant parts used, methods of extraction and preparation, and specific compounds isolated and tested for their anti-diabetic effects.
Diabetes is a common endocrine disorder, affecting over 100 million people worldwide. The World Health Organization predicts that this number may increase fivefold in the near future. Complications are the major cause of diabetic morbidity and mortality. In India, diabetes affects 1– 5% of the population. Well-known there from as early as 700 – 200 BCE, its two types are a genetically-based disorder and one resulting from 'dietary indiscretion.' Diabetes affects several physical processes and organs, and its course may be modified by a variety of compounds, including alkaloids, glycosides, polysaccharides, peptidoglycans, hypoglycans, glycopeptides, and terpenoids at numerous sites in the body.
The most common conventional treatment for diabetes is insulin, which has prominent side effects. Neither insulin nor other modern pharmaceuticals has been shown to modify the course of diabetic complications. In conventional treatment, diabetes is identified as 'insulin dependent diabetes mellitus' (IDDM) or 'non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus' (NIDDM).
While many of the plants discussed here, such as onion (Allium cepa), garlic (Allium sativum), aloe (Aloe vera; A. barbadensis), and the common beet (Beta vulgaris), are quite familiar to Westerners; others are only identified in the article by their Latin and Hindi names; some do not have English cognates. There is some confusion in the common Hindi names of two Salacia species included.
Many plants included here are used as foods or spices, suggesting that dietary factors may be of prime importance in controlling and preventing diabetes. Pomegranate (Punica granatum), fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum), red gram or pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), karira or capers (Capparis decidua), mango (Mangifera indica), banana or plantain (Musa paradisiaca), curry leaf (Murraya koeingii), and holy basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum) have all exhibited anti-diabetic effects. Some, such as lantana (Lantana camara), are known in the U.S. primarily as ornamentals. Others seem to be valued in India specifically for their medicinal properties, such as Artemesia pallens, bitter melon (Momordica charantia), and Phyllanthus niruri. Charantin, a peptide resembling insulin, has been isolated from bitter melon, which is used as a 'medicinal food' in China where it is known as an antimicrobial agent. M. cymbalaria, eaten as a vegetable in India, could have similar effects.
While some of the active compounds discussed may be unique to the plants or plant families with which they are linked here, such as salacinol from Salacia reticulata and S. oblonga, others are more widely found. Epicatechin, a polyphenol flavonoid isolated from the bark of the rosewood or Indian kino tree (Pterocarpus marsupium) has significant anti-diabetic effects, enhancing insulin release and conversion of proinsulin to insulin in vitro. Epicatechin is also found in green tea (Camellia sinensis; see HC 011204.172) and in cocoa (Theobroma cacao; see HC 110501.186) and is also an antioxidant. Pectin from ivy gourd (Coccinia grandis) has shown significant hypoglycemic activity in rats, stimulating glycogen synthesase activity and reducing phosphorylase activity; pectin is found in many fruits.
Some compounds are insufficiently identified in the text, but may be more completely described in the journal articles cited. It is also possible that other compounds have not yet been completely elucidated, such as 'a glucoside isolated from the bark of Ficus bengalenesis' (banyan tree).
This article can sometimes be difficult to follow, but is nevertheless a valuable contribution to the literature on ethnopharmacology and diabetes and should be studied by serious researchers for clues to potentially efficacious treatments.
-Mariann Garner-Wizard |