Abstract
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is considered as one of the most common metabolic disorders affecting huge number of people worldwide. Despite the availability of large numbers of drugs in the market to treat the disease, there is still a need for new sources to deal with the problem and avoid side effects. In the pursuit of discovering safer and more effective anti-diabetic drugs, herbal and folk medicine drugs from regions all over the world have captured researchers’ interest. Middle Eastern and North African medicinal plants contain a variety of pharmacologically active components that have shown to possess promising anti-diabetic potential. However, few data have been reported about medicinal plants from these regions in comparison to plants from other regions. Anti-diabetic medicinal plants from the MENA (the Middle East and North Africa) region, their role in controlling DM, and suggested mechanisms for the anti-diabetic activity of some medicinal plants are discussed in this review. Many of these plants have not been fully investigated and characterized, yet they have great potential for further development as anti-diabetic drugs.
Highlights
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder affecting people worldwide
Implication for health policy/practice/research/medical education: This review provides up to date information on anti-diabetic medicinal plants from the Middle East and North Africa regions, many of which have not been fully investigated
This review aims to highlight the anti-diabetic effects of traditional plants cultivated in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region that has been recently used in research
Summary
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder affecting people worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, there are currently 220 million people with type 2 DM, with expectations to increase to more than 365 million by 2030. Type 1 diabetes is insulin-dependent, while type 2 or noninsulin dependent DM is treated with oral anti-diabetic medications [4,5]. Drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes are not without limitations [6]; for example, Metformin and Glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists are associated with gastrointestinal distress [6]. Sulfonylureas usually cause hypoglycemia and weight gain, while Pioglitazone may increase the possibility of developing bladder cancer and other disorders, such as edema, heart failure, weight gain, and distal bone fractures in postmenopausal women [6], in addition to the high cost of these medications.
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