IntroductionDiabetes is becoming a public health burden for sub-Saharan countries due to its prevalence which is growing rapidly. Traditional medicine is more and more used to treat diabetes in RD Congo as well as in other African countries. This study was undertaken in order to list plants used in the management of diabetes by traditional healers in four agglomerations of southern area of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo.MethodsForty-nine traditional healers were randomly met and interviewed about diabetes treatment in traditional medicine. The survey concerned the plant identification, their part used, method of preparation and the route of administration. The inquest concerned also traditional medicine users.ResultsNinety-five plants from 47 families were indicated as antidiabetic. Fabaceae (24.2%), Euphorbiaceae (7.4%), Apocynaceae and Strychnaceae (4.2 each) are the more representative families. This inventory showed that the root is the most used part of the cited plants, the decoction with water as the main preparation method and the oral administration as the principal way to give antidiabetic traditional formulations.ConclusionIn Lubumbashi region, many plant species are used to treat diabetes either through traditional praticians or by anyone from well-known ancestral knowledge.

The aim of this study was to assess the hypoglycemic and antihyperglycemic activities of nine plants used as antidiabetic treatments in Lubumbashi and its surroundings. Those are Albizia adianthifolia, Azanza garckeana, Cassia occidentalis, Cassia sieberiana, Erythrina abyssinica, Gladiolus klattianus, Rauvolfia caffra, Strychnos spinosa, and Vitex madiensis. Aqueous extracts, obtained by decoction and maceration, were administered (500 mg/kg) per os to guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus), both in glucose baseline conditions and in oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) conditions (glucose, 2 g/kg; follow-up over 210 min). For OGTT experiments, area under the curve of blood glucose levels, maximum glucose concentration (Cmax), and time to reach Cmax (Tmax) were used to compare test groups with the control conditions (glucose group). In hypoglycemic tests, only three species induced significant (p < 0.001) lowering of normal glycemia: A. adianthifolia (33% reduction), C. occidentalis (32%), and V. madiensis (43%); in the same conditions, the positive control glibenclamide (6 mg/kg) induced a blood glucose lowering of 55%. In OGTT conditions, all tested herbs were active, with the highest inhibition of glycemia increases for V. madiensis (62%) and A. adianthifolia (57%), compared with the hyperglycemic inhibition rate of glibenclamide (50%). Oral glucose tolerance test conditions appear as essential to detect the extracts most interesting for clinical use. These data support the use of studied plants for diabetes treatment in traditional Congolese medicine and indicate a good knowledge of tradipraticians in the field. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

IntroductionL'automédication est devenue un phénomène émergeant et menaçant de plus en plus la santé publique. La présente étude objective de déterminer la prévalence et les caractéristiques dans le campus Universitaire Kasapa de l'Université de Lubumbashi.MéthodesL'interview indirecte a servi à la collecte des données qui ont été traitées par le logiciel Graphpad version 5.RésultatsDe 515 étudiants consultés, l'automédication présente une prévalence de 99%, une partie des sujets l'ayant débutée à l'adolescence (35%). Des répondants, 78,8% reconnaissent que l'automédication peut conduire à un échec thérapeutique et que des erreurs de dose, un traitement inadapté, des effets secondaires et des erreurs diagnostiques sont plausibles. Cette pratique est acceptée pour autant qu'elle permette de prendre en charge des maladies ou symptômes présumés bénins et connus avec pour avantages, discrétion et économie de temps et d'argent. La malaria (82,4%), la fièvre (65,5%), les maux de tête (65,5%) en constituent les trois premières causes. L'amoxicilline (98,2%), le paracétamol (97,5%), l'acide ascorbique (91,6%) et la quinine (79,4%) sont les quatre premiers médicaments les plus consommés. L'association la plus utilisée est paracétamol’ vitamine(s) (88,8%) et la plus aberrante amoxycilline -Erytromycine (25,5%). Le comprimé (37%) constitue la forme la plus utilisée. La plupart des sujets (84,9%), recourent aux plantes médicinales.ConclusionDans ce milieu, il existe une forte prévalence de l'automédication largement dans un but antipalustre avec quelques abus.

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