What is it about?
Phytotherapy has long been a source of medicinal products and over the years there have been many attempts to use herbal medicines for the treatment of diabetes. Several medicinal plants and their preparations have been demonstrated to act at key points of glucidic metabolism. The most common mechanisms of action found include the inhibition of -glucosidase and of AGE formation, the increase of GLUT-4 and PPARs expression and antioxidant activity. Despite the large amount of literature available, the actual clinical effectiveness of medicinal plants in controlling diabetes-related symptoms remains controversial and there is a crucial need for stronger evidence-based data. In this review, an overview of the medicinal plants, which use in the management of diabetes is supported by authoritative monographs, is provided. References to some species which are currently under increasing clinical investigation are also reported.
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Why is it important?
Despite the large amount of available literature, the real clinical effectiveness ofmedicinal plants in the management of diabetes is still controversial and there is a crucial need for stronger evidence-based data. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the use of medicinal plants in the management of diabetes, focusing on the species that are supported by authoritative documents such as the monographs drafted by the World Health Organization (WHO). Furthermore, an emphasis on some of the most promising species, which are attracting the interest of the scientific community, is also provided.
Perspectives
The comprehensive overview of the dataset suggests that dietary natural products and phytotherapy have today an interesting role in controlling the normal to border-line glucidic levels and as an integrative therapy, but they could not be considered as alternative drugs to mono-molecular ones for type II diabetic patients. Well conducted clinical trials using modern standardized extracts are of primordial importance and it is necessary to better investigate correlations between hypoglycemic activity and chemical composition of herbal preparations, with the aim of optimizing extracts to better trigger specific pathways and, finally, to propose correct dosages to enhance safety and effectiveness.
Mr Paolo Governa
Universita degli Studi di Siena
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Phytotherapy in the Management of Diabetes: A Review, Molecules, January 2018, MDPI AG,
DOI: 10.3390/molecules23010105.
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