ANTIDIABETIC ACTIVITIES AND PHYTOCHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS OF SELECTED MEDICINAL PLANTS FROM ETHIOPIAN FLORA: A BRIEF REVIEW

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a dangerous metabolic illness that causes blood glucose levels to rise unnaturally. This is brought on by problems with insulin secretion, which controls how the body uses glucose to make energy. The two main types of diabetes mellitus (DM) are Type 1 DM and Type 2 DM. Type 1 Diabets Mellitus (T1DM), which is brought on by a complete or nearly complete lack of insulin, and Type 2 Diabets Mellitus (T2DM), which is defined by insulin deficiency or insulin resistance. In order to control hyperglycemia for T2DM hyperglycemic drugs. Insulin therapy is also used as an alternative for patients who show allergic reactions to oral hyperglycemic drugs. The aim of this paper is to review phytochemical constituents and antidiabetic activities of selected medicinal plants (Otistiga integrigolia, Moringa stenopetala, Sativa rabaudiana rabaudiana, Meriandra dianthera, indica, Momordica charantia, Allium sativum, and Ajuga remota) from Ethiopian flora. Methods: This review article is intended to compile information already available on selected Ethiopian medicinal plants of active compounds and extracts they contain that are used to treat DM from their morphological sources. The information were gathered from published scientific papers, Theses, Books and Ethnobotany reports. Search terms such as diabetes and medicinal plants were used to gather information form Science direct, Google Scholar and Scopus. Conclusion: There are currently no proven effective treatments for controlling diabetes, and the prevalence of DM is increasing from time to time. The commercial oral hypoglycemic drugs have limitations. Some of the limitations are they are expensive and have serious adverse effects on patients’ health making their use more difficult. In order to address the aforementioned concerns, it is crucial to concentrate on identifying safe and efficient remedies from the available medicinal plants. In order to discover drugs with improved antidiabetic activities, researchers are expected to carry out investigation on crude extracts and bioactive compounds isolated from medicinal plants.