Medicinal plants have a long history of use in China to treat diabetic symptoms. Ancient Chinese medical manuscripts and ethnobotanical surveys document plant remedies that continue to be actively used in China for the treatment of diabetic symptoms. Based on a systematic ancient Chinese medical manuscripts review in combination with ethnobotanical survey, 16 medicinal plants for the traditional treatment of diabetic symptoms were identified for the evaluation of anti-insulin resistance bioactivity. The biological activity of 16 medicinal plants was tested on dexamethasone (DXMS)-induced insulin resistant HepG2 cells. The result shows that 11 of the 16 medicinal plants enhanced glucose uptake of DXMS-induced insulin resistant HepG2 cells, thereby demonstrating their ability to increase insulin sensitivity, other five medicinal plants including Astragalus membranaceus were found ineffective. The study shows that ancient Chinese medical manuscripts and ethnobotanical surveys on plants for the prevention and treatment of diabetic symptoms provide a promising knowledge base for drug discovery to mitigate the global diabetes epidemic.
[1]Chinese Acad Sci, Kunming Inst Bot, State Key Lab Phytochem & Plant Resources West Ch, Kunming 650201, Yunnan, Peoples R China.
[2]Minzu Univ China, Coll Life & Environm Sci, Beijing 100086, Peoples R China.
[3]Guangzhou Univ Chinese Med, Trop Med Inst, Lab Chinese Herbal Drug Discovery, Guangzhou 510405, Guangdong, Peoples R China.
[4]Southwest Forestry Univ, Kunming 650224, Yunnan, Peoples R China.
[5]Montana State Univ, Dept Hlth & Human Dev, Sustainable Food & Bioenergy Syst Program, Bozeman, MT 59717 USA.
[6]Shanghai Univ Tradit Chinese Med, Shanghai 201203, Peoples R China.
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