Use of antidiabetic medicinal plants with ethnomedicinal information in clinical trials

Globally, diabetes mellitus is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. In recent years, the use of medicinal plants has increased due to the continuing interest in finding effective treatments, the failure of many conventional treatments, and the preference to consume natural therapies. Medicinal plants are promising options to obtain new treatments for diabetic patients. For instance, metformin was obtained from Galega officinalis L. (Fabaceae). Preclinical studies have shown the potential effectiveness of many medicinal plants in both in vitro and in vivo conditions. Ethnobotanical studies provide useful information in the isolation of new drugs, whereas clinical trials provide evidence-based information about the therapeutic potential of a medicinal plant and/or its bioactive compounds. However, only a few species have been studied in well-controlled double-blind clinical trials to demonstrate their safety and efficacy. This chapter focuses on the effects in clinical trials of medicinal plants with anti-diabetic use in folk medicine. This chapter also provides general aspects of the bioactive compounds obtained from these antidiabetic plants, along with their possible mechanisms of action.

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