Evaluation of antidiabetic activity of plants used in Western Sudan

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the traditional antidiabetic uses of some indigenous Sudanese plants on streptozotocin-induced diabetes rats. METHODS: Diabetic rats were treated with a 400 mg/kg dose of aqueous extracts of five plant species orally for 2 h (acute) or 14 days (chronic). In acute model blood glucose levels were monitored at specific intervals. In the chronic model blood samples were collected from overnight fasted diabetic rats on day 15 to estimate blood glucose level. And the body weight, serum lipid profile and activities of liver and kidney enzymes were measured. Histopathological observations of liver sections were also studied. RESULTS: In the case of acute treatment, aqueous extracts of Tinospora bakis (T. bakis), Nauclea latifolia (N. latifolia) and Randia nilotica (R. nilotica) at 400 mg/kg significantly lowered (P < 0.05) blood glucose levels in diabetic rats whereas, chronic treatment of diabetic rats with 400 mg/kg of T. bakis, N. latifolia, R. nilotica and Mitragyna inremis proved to have significant (P < 0.05) antihyperglycemic effect and have the capacity to correct the metabolic disturbances associated with diabetes. Histopathological studies showed that the aqueous extracts of these four plants reinforced the healing of liver. However, Striga hermonthica aqueous extract did not exert any antihyperglycemic effect to diabetic rats. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that T. bakis, N. latifolia, R. nilotica and Mitragyna inremis have therapeutic value in diabetes and related complications and thus supporting the traditional uses of these plants in Sudanese traditional medicine.

Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth: Phytochemistry and pharmacological properties outline.

This mini-review aims to outlining the beneficial impacts of the witch-weed parasitic plant; Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth. S. hermonthica plant beside its well-known devastating impacts on the most important food cereal crops in Africa and is deemed to be one of the main factors that threatens the food security in this continent; it does also have a beneficial side in the tradition medicine for the African people. S. hermonthica has a wide range of medicinal uses; the pharmacological abortificient effect, dermatosis, diabetes, leprosy ulcer, pneumonia and jaundice remedy, trypanocidal effects, antibacterial and anti-plasmoidal activities have been approved. Here, we focus mainly in the phytochemical studies, its applications in the remediation of both animal and human physiological and infectious diseases and Striga tissue culture advantage as biotechnological application for pharmaceutical production.