Hippophae rhamnoides Linn. for treatment of diabetes mellitus: A review

Abstract

Hippophae rhamnoides Linn., commonly known as sea buckthorn (family: Elaeagnaceae), grows wild in Asia and Europe. As one kind of Chinese traditional medicine, H. rhamnoides Linn. berry was effective in treating wounds, inflammation, mucous-membrane-related disorders and diseases such as cough, sputum, cancer and bacterial problem. In diabetes,H. rhamnoides Linn. affected not only the lowering of the blood sugar including fasting blood glucose and 2 h postprandial blood glucose, but also in treating the complications. H. rhamnoides Linn. had been shown to be effective in cell cultures, animal studies, and clinical practice. Although H. rhamnoides Linn. had been shown to have positive effects in relieving symptoms, such as fatigue, dry mouth and dry eye in non-diabetic disease, whether it has the therapeutic effect on diabetes symptoms was still unclear. Studies have to be conducted to test and verify the effect of H. rhamnoides Linn. on symptoms in diabetes patients. On the whole, H. rhamnoides Linn. is a candidate for complementary diabetes therapy. Key words: Hippophae rhamnoides Linn., diabetes mellitus, blood glucose, complications,symptoms.