Hypoglycemic, antihyperglycemic, and antioxidant effects of the edible plant Anoda cristata.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Some studies refer that the entire plant of Anoda cristata is consumed as food and medicine; in particular for treating diabetes, inflammation, fever, cough, and wounds. The aim of this study was to establish the preclinical efficacy of Anoda cristata as hypoglycemic and/or antihyperglycemic agent using well-known animal models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The acute toxicity was analyzed by the Lorke method. Acute hypoglycemic as well as oral glucose and sucrose tolerance tests were used to determine the hypoglycemic and antihyperglycemic action of Anoda cristata. Several preparations of the plant, including a mucilage (M), an aqueous (T-AE), a free mucilage aqueous (FM-AE), and an organic (OE) extracts, were tested in healthy and NA-STZ-hyperglycemic mice. Glibenclamide (15mg/kg), acarbose (5mg/kg ) and metformin (200mg/kg) were used as positive controls. The major compounds acacetin (1) and diosmetin (2), isolated from an infusion of the plant applying chromatographic methods, were evaluated as hypoglycemic agents using the same assays. The FM-AE was tested also in rats with metabolic syndrome induced by a high-fructose fed. Finally some assays were performed to determine the antioxidant capacity of the FM-AE in vitro. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that the extracts and compounds from Anoda cristata were effective for reducing blood glucose levels in healthy and NA-STZ-hyperglycemic mice when compared with vehicle groups (p<0.05). The FM-AE exerted also positive effect over different biochemical parameters altered in rats with metabolic syndrome induced by a fructose diet. FM-AE has also antioxidant action effectively trapping ONOO(-) and ROO(•) radicals. The major flavonoids isolated from the plant, namely acacetin (1) and diosmetin (2), caused significant hypoglycemic effect and possessed antioxidant activity. CONCLUSION: Anoda cristata is effective to diminish glucose levels in vivo and to ameliorate different disorders related with the metabolic syndrome in rats. According to the results, the efficacy of Anoda cristata preparations could be due to the presence of active principles with different mode of actions at the molecular level, including α-glycosidases inhibitors, insulin secretagogues, glucose entrapment and radical trapping agents.

Antinociceptive activity of Ligusticum porteri preparations and compounds.

CONTEXT: The roots and rhizomes of Ligusticum porteri Coulter & Rose (Apiaceae) are widely used in Mexican folk medicine for several purposes, including painful complaints. OBJECTIVE: The main goal of this work was to demonstrate the analgesic action in mice of some preparations and major compounds from L. porteri. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The extracts, aqueous (AE) and organic (OE), the essential oil (EO) and major compounds (10-316 mg/kg) from L. porteri were evaluated as potential antinociceptive agents using the acetic acid-induced writhing and hot plate tests in ICR mice. RESULTS: All preparations tested exhibited significant antinociceptive effect in the two animal pain models selected. AE and EO were more effective in the writhing test while OE had a better effect in the hot-plate model. On the other hand, Z-ligustilide (1) provoked an increment in the latency period to the thermal stimuli in the hot-plate test at a dose of 31.6 mg/kg, and a decrease in the number of abdominal writhes at 10 mg/kg. Z-3-butylidenephthalide (2) induced a dose-dependent antinociceptive action in the hot-plate assay; this compound was also effective for controlling the pain provoked by chemical irritation at the doses of 10 and 31.6 mg/kg. Finally, diligustilide (3) inhibited the number of writhing responses at all doses tested but was inactive in the hot-plate model. CONCLUSION: The present investigation provides in vivo evidence supporting the use of L. porteri to treat painful conditions in folk medicine.

Mexican antidiabetic herbs: valuable sources of inhibitors of α-glucosidases.

Type II-diabetes mellitus (TII-DM) has been regarded as one of the most important public health problems in all nations in the 21st century. Although allopathic therapies remain the most important for the initial management of TII-DM, herbal remedies have gained wide acceptance for treating this condition. These alternative therapies are particularly valued in countries such as Mexico, rich in medicinal plants strongly attached to the cultural values of the population. Medicinal plants are prized sources of α-glucosidase inhibitors, which delay the liberation of glucose from complex carbohydrates, retarding glucose absorption, and thus controlling the characteristic hyperglycemia of TII-DM. Among the plant species used for treating diabetes in Mexico only 38 have been analyzed for their inhibitory activity of α-glucosidases. Most of these studies, reviewed in the present work, have focused on the evaluation of different types of extracts on the activity of α-glucosidases from diverse sources. Four species have been thoroughly analyzed in order to discover novel α-glucosidase inhibitors, namely, Hintonia latiflora and Hintonia standleyana (Rubiaceae), Ligusticum porteri (Apiaceae), and Brickellia cavanillesii (Asteraceae). Their ethnomedical uses, pharmacological and toxicological studies, chemical composition, and antihyperglycemic principles with α-glucosidase inhibitory activity are summarized.