Investigation on the Therapeutic Value of the Indeginous Plants in Traditional Medicine for the Control of Diabetes in Pakistan

Abstract

Medical plants have been used for centuries to treat and control diabetes mellitus. A survey of literature shows that there are a very large number of plants and their extracts which have been shown to possess hypoglycemic activity. Many of these plants have been used in traditional medicine but neither the mechanism of action nor the results on the trial on patients are known. In the present study 3 plants and their extracts have been investigated as they were extensively used by the diabetic patients for their glycemic control. The water extract of the roots of Poterium Spinosum showed a significant hypoglycemic activity in alloxan diabetic rats (Insulin deficiency) as well as in hypergylycemia caused by glucosamine (Insulin Sufficiency). The leaves of this plant did not possess any hypoglycemic activity. The mechanism of action was investigated by measuring the metabolites before and after the treatment with Poterium Spinosum in blood and liver of the experimental animals. The activity was compared with metformin hydrochloride. It was found that Poterium Spinosum possesses a significant and consistent hypoglycemic effect in alloxan diabetic rats and reverses to a lesser or greater degree the metabolic anomalies cause by alloxan. The hypoglycemic activity seems to be through extra-pancreatic means. As Poterium Spinosum was not found to be effective in normal rats but was effective in alloxan diabetic rats, its action is not dependent on insulin production or insulin protection. The ethanolic extract of the leaves of Gymnema Sylvestre was able to decrease the blood sugar level in alloxan diabetic rats and the decrease was effective upto 24 hours after the administration or the extract. The composition of the antidiabetic powder is not known. The powder was obtained from a local traditional medicine practitioner, who claimed that the efficiency of the powder has been proved in many diabetic patients. Experiments were performed to study the effect of administration of the drug on the blood glucose profile of normal and alloxan diabetic rats. The whole powder or its extracts with water, etnanol. Benzyme, ethyl acetate or chloroform, were given orally to the rats in 4 divided doses of 1 gm of the powder or its extract equivalent to 1 gm the powder. Blood sugar was determined at different time intervals for 5 days. The hypoglycemic activity was significant in diabetic rats with wnole powder treatment. The benzene extract of the powder, showed the highest reduction in the blood sugar levels indicating that hypoglycemic principle of the powder was benzene soluble which being further purified and tested. The clinical trial on Poterium Spinosum and the antidiabetic powder is in progress.