Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Therapeutic potentials and pharmacological properties of Moringa oleifera Lam in the treatment of diabetes mellitus and related complications

Elizabeth I Omodanisi¹, Guillaume y Aboua², Oluwafemi O Oguntibeju¹

¹Phytomedicine and Diabetes Research Group, Oxidative Stress Research Centre, Department of Biomedical Sciences; ²Reproductive Biology Research Group, Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville, South Africa. PO Box 1906, Bellville 7535, South Africa.

For correspondence:- Oluwafemi Oguntibeju Email: oguntibejuo@cput.ac.za

Received: 10 May 2016 Accepted: 13 June 2017 Published: 31 July 2017

Citation: Omodanisi EI, Aboua Gy, Oguntibeju OO. Therapeutic potentials and pharmacological properties of Moringa oleifera Lam in the treatment of diabetes mellitus and related complications. Trop J Pharm Res 2017; 16(7):1737-1746 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v16i7.35

© 2017 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major health problem not only in urban areas, but also in rural areas. DM is a metabolic disorder resulting from abnormal insulin secretion. This leads to chronic hyperglycemia with disturbances of carbohydrate metabolism. Hyperglycemic-induced oxidative stress has been shown to be actively involved in the onset and progression of diabetes. Plants have played a vital role in improving the quality of life and maintaining human health.

It also serves as important components for medicines, beverages and seasonings. Many plants contain flavonoids, glycosides, alkaloids, terpenoids, and carotenoids with anti-diabetic and antioxidant properties. Moringa oleifera (MO) is one of such plants which have been used for centuries as a folk remedy for the treatment and management of various diseases including diabetes. This review is aimed at providing an overview of the potentials of MO in the treatment and management of diabetes and its possible applications in the treatment of other diseases.

Keywords: Moringa oleifera, Diabetes mellitus, Hyperglycemia, Oxidative stress