Abstract

CASTRO JUAREZ, Carlos Jonnathan; VILLA RUANO, Nemesio; RAMIREZ GARCIA, Sergio Alberto  and  MOSSO GONZALEZ, Clemente. Medicinal use of antidiabetic plants in Oaxacan ethnobotanical tradition. Rev Cubana Plant Med [online]. 2014, vol.19, n.1, pp. 101-120. ISSN 1028-4796.

Introduction: type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) is one of the most common chronic degenerative diseases in Mexico. Medicinal plants are one of the treatments provided to the Oaxacan population suffering from this disease. Objective: carry out an exhaustive bibliographic review in electronic scientific databases with the purpose of collecting information about antidiabetic plants and hypoglycemic extracts empirically used in Oaxaca, Mexico. Methods: an exhaustive bibliographic search was conducted for scientific studies dealing with the biological activity (in vitro and in vivo tests) and chemical characteristics of plants commonly used to treat diabetes in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Results: a presentation is made of 35 plants from 22 botanical families which are used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus. Most of these species are from the families Lamiaceae, Cecropiaceae and Equisetaceae. In 23 of the 35 species, antidiabetic action was tested in animal models, and only in 19 of them could compounds with hypoglycemic activity be identified. Conclusion: about 77 % of these plants have reports on the effect of their extracts or their individual secondary metabolites. Some of the plants used empirically in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, contain clearly identified flavonoids and terpenes with antioxidant activity and inhibitory action on enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism. Previous in vitro and in vivo assays have shown that certain members of these metabolite families have an obvious effect on glycemia regulation. These findings consistently support the millenarian use of the species herein dealt with.

Keywords : medicinal plants; ethnobotany; Oaxaca; diabetes mellitus.

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