Evaluation of the Anti-Diabetic and Anti-Ulcer Properties of Some Jordanian and Iraqi Medicinal Plants; a Screening Study

Abstract

A large number of Jordanian and Iraqi medicinal plants have been used in traditional medicine for hypoglycemic and anti-ulcer activities. We have started a screening program to evaluate the activity of some of these plants and their extracts taking in consideration their use as an alternative therapy. Various parts of several plants were extracted and the hypoglycemic effects of the aqueous extracts have been examined in normal, glucose loaded and alloxan diabetic experimental animals. Teucrium polium aqueous extract was studied for its anti-ulcer activity of ulcers induced in rats by starvation and reserpine and/or stress. The aqueous extract of the aerial parts of Artemisia herba alba was administered orally to normoglycemic and alloxan diabetic rabbits and rats and found to produce a significant hypoglycemic activity (normoglycaemic: plasma glucose levels reduced from 116±4 to 90±3mg/dL after 90minutes, p<0.001; diabetic animals from 471±7 to 399±9mg/dL, p<0.001). The aerial aqueous extract of Phangnalon rupestre, Sinapis arvensis and Eryngium creticum also exhibited significant hypoglycemic effects in euglycaemic and glucose loaded rats. The other plants examined (Ditrichia graveolens, Alkanna strigosa, , Centaurea iberica, Asphodelin lutea, Paronychia argentea, rosmarinus officinalis, Achillea santolina, Achillea micrantha, Allium sativum, Centaurea phyllacephala, Centaurea behen, Crataegus azarolus, Prosopis farcta and Myrtus communis) failed to produce a significant change in the plasma glucose levels. One herb was comprehensively tested in detail for its anti-ulcer activity; Teucrium polium aqueous extract (intraperitoneally;150mg/kg) produced an average of 50% healing of ulcers where as the orally administered extract produced 85% healing activity of ulcers when compared with the controls.

Effects of Prosopis farcta Root Extract in the Vascular Reactivity of Isolated Goat Coronary Artery

“…(8) shows that in Ca +2 -free Krebs solution, CaCl 2 induced concentration-dependent contraction of CA rings with (E max : 119.67±13.52% and PEC 50 : -2.932±0.307), while incubating these CA rings with PFRE, shifted the concentration-response curve to the right and accentuated non significant decline in the magnitude of the contraction with (E max : 91.28±3.99% and PEC 50 : -3.113±0.162), data shown in table(4).…”

“…Nowadays, the modern costly curative synthetic remedies associated with multiple side effects resulting in patient non-compliance, therefore there is a need to explore some alternative remedies especially from plants and herbal based formulations as are less cost-effective and possess minimal side effects [3]. For controlling and treating various diseases because of their remarkable pharmacological actions with no or rare side effects when used at a specific dose [4], and in general many secondary metabolites from plants [5] including alkaloids, flavonoid, tannins, phenolic compounds, steroids, resins, fatty acids, and gums regarded as an important bioactive compounds of the plant extracts that are capable of producing significant physiologic effects in the body [6].…”