ABSTRACT:
Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder caused due to insufficient insulin or insulin resistance in our body. Diabetes mellitus is of three types. They are type I, type II and gestational diabetes mellitus. Diabetes mellitus can be diagnosed by monitoring blood glucose levels and HbA1c. It has common clinical presentations like polyuria, polyphagia, weight gain or weight loss, dehydration, fainting etc,. If left untreated diabetes can lead to life threatening complications. Some of the complications are Diabetic keto acidosis, Diabetic nephropathy, Alzhimer’s disease, Diabetic foot, chronic kidney disease, stroke, etc,. Insulin is used for the treatment of type I diabetes and type II diabetes can be treated using some anti-diabetic drugs along with few precautionary measures and life style modifications. Holarrhena pubescensis a medicinal plant commonly called kurchi. All parts of this plant has got some medicinal use and as a whole, the plant has wide range of medicinal benefits. The chloroform and ethanolic extracts of Holarrhena pubescens showed significant results when compared to the standard drug Metformin. Cell lines showed 50% cell death when 1µg/ml of Metformin was given. The same result was obtained when 100µg/ml of H.P.C.E. and 100µg/ml H.P.E.E. was given. The glucose uptake assay for H.P.C.E. at a concentration of 10µg/ml was 5.85±0.02mg/100ml in the absence of insulin and 7.89±0.05 mg/100ml in the presence of insulin and for H.P.E.E. at a concentration of 10µg/ml was 9.45±0.05mg/100ml in the absence of insulin and 10.54±0.04mg/100ml in the presence of insulin. Inhibition of ??-amylase enzyme activity ??-glucosidase enzyme activity of H.P.C.E. and H.P.E.E. were compared with standard and the results are discussed below. This article reveals that Holarrhena pubescens has significant anti-diabetic property. Its folklore usage in treating diabetic condition has been validated with this scientific result.