Hypoglycemic and Antihyperglycemic Activities of Nine Medicinal Herbs Used as Antidiabetic in the Region of Lubumbashi (DR Congo)

Abstract

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.

Medicinal plants used by ‘root doctors’, local traditional healers in Bié province, Angola

“…Erythrina abyssinica HIV/AIDS (Lamorde et al, 2010), vomiting (Tugume et al, 2016); Burundi: cough (Rodegem, 1970), eyes, strenghtens breastmilk, female sterility, cough, epistaxis, depression, protection black magic (Baerts and Lehmann, 1989); central Africa: stomach problems (Balagizi et al, 1998); Congo: eye inflammation, snake bitse, antihelmentic, diphtheria (Defour, 1994), tuberculosis, eye inflammation (Cihyoka, 1994), wounds (Byavu et al, 2000, hemorrhoids (Nyakabwa and Dibaluka, 1990); Kenya: wounds, dermatosis, boils (Kokwaro, 1987), internal pain (Glover et al, 1966); Kenya/Uganda/Tanzania: snake bite, gonorrhea, syphilis, collique, stomach ache (Kokwaro, 1976); Rwanda: eye inflammation (Desouter, 1991), wounds, snake bites, lepre (Durand, 1960), dysentery, meningitis, jaundice Habiyaremye, 1987), hemorrhoids (Ayobangira et al, 2000); Tanzania: stomach pain (Chabra et al, 1990); Uganda: candide (Hamil et al, 2000), epilepsy (Adjanohoun et al, 1993); Zimbabwe: cough, rougeole, bilharziose, cachexie, psychose (Gelfand et al, 1985) Anticancer (Samanga et al, 2014), wound healing properties (Marume et al, 2017), prevents meningoencephalitis (Nasimolo et al, 2014), antimicrobial (Kamat et al, 1981), antibacterial (Nguyen et al, 2016;Wagate et al, 2010), antimalariall (Yenesew et al, 2004), antihyperglycemic (Amuri et al, 2017), anti-HIV, antiviral (Mohammed et al, 2012), antidiabetic (Cui et al, 2010, antifungal (Manyarara et al, 2016) cytotoxic (Perez et al, 2015), antimycobacterial (Bunalema et al, 2011)…”

Albizia Adianthifolia: Botany, Medicinal Uses, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacological Properties

“…Over the years, pharmacological studies on A. adianthifolia extracts and compounds extracted from the species showed potent in vitro and in vivo pharmacological activities including acetylcholinesterase enzyme inhibitory [ 69 , 72 , 73 ], anthelmintic [ 70 , 74 ], antiamoebic [ 74 ], antibacterial [ 27 , 53 , 68 , 73 , 75 ], antimycobacterial [ 76 ], anti-sexually transmitted infections [ 77 ], antifungal [ 27 , 68 ], anti-inflammatory [ 73 , 78 ], antioxidant [ 27 , 28 , 69 , 79 , 80 ], anxiolytic and antidepressant [ 79 ], cognitive-enhancing [ 28 ], haemolytic [ 66 , 81 ], hypoglycemic and antihyperglycemic [ 45 ], immunomodulatory [ 66 ], cytotoxicity [ 77 , 80 – 84 ].…”

“…Amuri et al (2017) [ 45 ] evaluated the hypoglycemic and antihyperglycemic activities of leaf extracts of A. adianthifolia by administering 500 mg/kg to guinea pigs ( Cavia porcellus ), both in glucose baseline conditions and in oral glucose tolerance test with follow-up over 210 minutes. In hypoglycemic tests, the extract induced activities, lowering the normal glycemia by 33% which was comparable to the activities of the positive control, and glibenclamide (6 mg/kg) which induced a blood glucose lowering effect of 55%.…”

“…In hypoglycemic tests, the extract induced activities, lowering the normal glycemia by 33% which was comparable to the activities of the positive control, and glibenclamide (6 mg/kg) which induced a blood glucose lowering effect of 55%. In oral glucose tolerance test, the extract was active, causing inhibition of glycemia increase of 57% which was comparable to the hyperglycemic inhibition rate of glibenclamide of 50% [ 45 ]. These findings support the traditional use of A. adianthifolia leaf and stem bark decoction as herbal medicine for diabetes in the DRC [ 45 ] and Nigeria [ 29 ].…”

“…In oral glucose tolerance test, the extract was active, causing inhibition of glycemia increase of 57% which was comparable to the hyperglycemic inhibition rate of glibenclamide of 50% [ 45 ]. These findings support the traditional use of A. adianthifolia leaf and stem bark decoction as herbal medicine for diabetes in the DRC [ 45 ] and Nigeria [ 29 ].…”