Investigation Of Traditional Chinese Medicinal Plants For The Prevention And Treatment Of Diabetes

Diabetes is a metabolic syndrome mainly caused by the insulin resistance, loss and the decrease of the functions of pancreas. Different ethnic groups in China have accumulated abundant traditional knowledge about diabetes by long-term living and practicing. By following the mainline that medicinal plants resource is used in traditional medicinal system, this research has been conducted by literature study and field investigation especially in southwest of China. By both literature study and field trip,274 medicinal plants species for treating diabetes were collected from 19 ethnic groups. Related information of these plants was systematically documented (including Chinese name, local name, scientific name, family name, biotype, habitat, distribution, medicinal function, medicinal parts, chemical constituents and the current situation of pharmacological research). In order to obtain deep-seated valuable information, statistical methods were used to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the resource characteristics and utilization characteristics of medicinal plants for treating diabetes in China based on the collected information. The results of this research provide a foundation of exploitation and utilization of plant resources for treating diabetes.The results showed that:(1) 264 medicinal plants species for treating diabetes in our country were found during this research and they belong to 84 families and 207 genera. (2) 264 species are angiosperm,4 species are gymnosperm and 6 species are ferns. (3) Most of the species are herbaceous. (4) The 5 families with most species number are:Asteraceae, Rosaceae, Leguminosae, Liliaceae, and Poaceae, with 31.75% of all species from these 5 families. (5) The 18 genera with most species number are:Dendrobium, Polygonatum, Curcuma, Codonopsis, Gynura, Urtica, Lilium, Plantago, Glycyrrhiza, Tinospora, Polygonum, Rheum, Coptis, Armeniaca, Rosa, Rubus, Pyrrosia, and Aralia, with 22.26% of all species from these 18 genera. (7) By data sorting on these 274 species, there were 265 species documented in papers and databases for their chemical and pharmacological researches. The main constituents for their bioactivities include:flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, polysaccharides and oligosaccharides, steroids, proteins and polypeptides, unsaturated fatty acids, organic sulfur-containing compounds and so on. Their pharmacological effects include decreasing blood sugar, decreasing blood pressure, adjusting the metabolism of lipids, antioxidant bioactivity, anti-inflammatory bioactivity, anti-bacterial bioactivity. (8) There are 28 species of key state protection and 8 endemic species. (9) There are 158 species recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2015. (10) 92 species are edible plants.Based on the investigation and analysis above, it was suggested that: (1) 5 families including Asteraceae, Rosaceae, Leguminosae, Liliaceae, and Poaceae could be investigated in priority because of the most abundant medicinal plant resources about diabetes belonging to them. (2) According to the medicinal plants with known chemical constituents and bioactivities, the plants in the same genus or family can be a good potential resource to find the similar functional plants. (3) Some specific chemical compounds can be used as important indicators to screen medicinal plants for new drug resource research. (4) The study on applications of most medicinal plants still need to be focused more and traditional knowledge can be referred to as an important clue on experiment designing and bioactivity screening to discover new medicinal resources and medicinal value. (5) The protection on wild medicinal plant resources can be improved. Standardized culture and modern biotechnology can be used to improve the industrialization of medicinal plants.