review · Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Existing treatments for diabetes mellitus often suffer from drawbacks including high costs, adverse effects, and drug resistance. As a result, medicinal plants are increasingly investigated as potential sources of novel antidiabetic agents and lead compounds. An evaluation of research published up to late 2020 consolidated findings on thirty-seven medicinal plant species from nineteen families tested across Ethiopia using laboratory and animal models. Leaves were the most frequently evaluated plant part, with crude extractions primarily performed using hydromethanolic solvents and fractions obtained through chloroform. Among the examined flora, Thymus schimperi, Moringa stenopetala, Ajuga remota, and Datura stramonium emerged as the most frequently investigated plants for treating diabetes. While these botanical sources demonstrate potential antidiabetic activities, comprehensive pharmacological and toxicological testing remains necessary before they can proceed to human clinical trials.
Diabetes affects millions of people globally, yet current commercial medications can cause significant side effects or become ineffective through drug resistance. Identifying safe and effective botanical alternatives from traditional medicine offers a promising avenue for discovering affordable, novel antidiabetic therapies, helping researchers pinpoint the most promising local plant candidates for rigorous laboratory evaluation.
This research provides early-stage baseline evidence that could guide pharmaceutical developers and natural product researchers seeking lead compounds for new diabetes therapies. Because the underlying evidence is restricted to laboratory and animal models, the findings remain at an early discovery stage, far from clinical use. Significant toxicological profiling, safety testing, and formal clinical trials will be required before any commercial therapeutics or standardised botanical extracts can reach the market.
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Background. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder characterized by a persistent rise in the blood glucose level resulting from defects in cellular insulin function, secretion, or both, which affects millions of people every year. Several drawbacks have been stated with the use of marketed antidiabetic medicines such as drug resistance, adverse effects, toxicities, and even costs. Due to these several limitations, searching for novel antidiabetic medicines from medicinal plants (MPs) is becoming an active area of research. Therefore, MPs are exemplary sources of medicines with many accessible agents being obtained from them because numerous active constituents are isolated from them for direct use as pharmacological medicines or act as lead compounds. This paper was aimed to synthesize a concluding remark using in vitro and in vivo evaluations of extracts and fractions for antidiabetic potentials in Ethiopia, which can be used to direct future clinical trials and related investigations. Method. So as to get data on the different investigations, publications related to experimental evaluations on animal diabetic models in Ethiopia were searched from databases, such as Google Scholar, Web of Science, Medline, PubMed, and Scopus using English key terms. Results. In this paper, about 37 research findings based on data from various areas of Ethiopia published until the end of November 2020 were included. A total of 37 MP species extracts and fractions belonging to 19 families have been revealed in vitro or in vivo for potential antidiabetic activities. Crude extracts were carried out mostly by hydromethanolic whereas fractions were done mostly by chloroform. Leaves were the most commonly experimentally investigated plant part. Among the MP species experimentally studied, the most frequently used to treat DM in Ethiopia were Thymus schimperi Ronniger (Lamiaceae), Moringa stenopetala (Baker f.; Moringaceae), Ajuga remota Benth (Lamiaceae), and Datura stramonium Linn. (Solanaceae). Conclusion. This paper gives aggregate evidences on the potential antidiabetic activities of MPs in Ethiopia. Antidiabetic MPs used in Ethiopia represent crucial input for the future development of novel antidiabetic drugs. To this end, more pharmacological and toxicological investigations need to be considered to prove the safety of constituents obtained from these MPs. Finally, we recommend upcoming research to ensure future success in the clinical study and development of novel medicines for DM treatment from these frequently evaluated MPs.
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DOI: 10.1155/2021/9108499
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