Effects of Portulaca oleracea L. seeds in treatment of type-2 diabetes mellitus patients as adjunctive and alternative therapy

• Published in: Journal of ethnopharmacology Vol. 137; no. 1; pp. 643 - 651
• Main Author: El-Sayed, Mohamed-I Kotb
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01.09.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adjunctive therapy; Adult; adverse effects; alanine transaminase; albumins; alkaline phosphatase; alternative medicine; aspartate transaminase; bilirubin; Bilirubin - blood; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers; Biomarkers - blood; blood; blood glucose; Blood Glucose - drug effects; Blood Glucose - metabolism; blood lipids; blood sampling; body mass index; body weight; cholesterol; Complementary Therapies; diabetes mellitus; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - blood; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - drug therapy; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - physiopathology; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - therapy; Double-Blind Method; drug effects; drug therapy; enzymology; fatty acid composition; Female; flavonoids; General pharmacology; high density lipoprotein; Humans; Hypoglycemic Agents; Hypoglycemic Agents - therapeutic use; insulin; Insulin - blood; Insulin Resistance; Lipids; Lipids - blood; liver; Liver - drug effects; Liver - enzymology; low density lipoprotein; Male; Medical sciences; metabolism; metformin; Metformin - therapeutic use; patients; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; physiopathology; Plants, Medicinal; Portulaca; Portulaca oleracea; Portulaca oleracea L; Purslane; seed treatment; Seeds; Serum Albumin; Serum Albumin - metabolism; therapeutic use; therapy; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome; triacylglycerols; Type-2 diabetes mellitus; Yemen; Asia; China; Yemen; Portulaca oleracea L; Purslane; Type-2 diabetes mellitus; Adjunctive therapy; Endocrinopathy; Type 2 diabetes; Human; Portulacaceae; Seeds; Weed; Pharmacognosy; Adjuvant treatment; Metabolic diseases; Medicinal plant; Folk medicine; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Plant origin; Portulaca oleracea; Spermatophyta
• ISSN: 0378-8741; 1872-7573; 1872-7573
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2011.06.020

The present study was to investigate antidiabetic activity of purslane seeds on type-2 diabetic subjects and to provide scientific basis for the clinical use of Portulaca oleracea (PO). Purslane seeds were effective and safe as adjuvant or as favourable alternative therapy for type-2 diabetic subjects. Ethnpharmacological relevance: To investigate antidiabetic activity of purslane seeds on type-2 diabetic subjects and to provide scientific basis for the clinical use of Portulaca oleracea (PO). A thirty subject with type-2 diabetes divided into two groups, to receive 5g of PO seeds twice daily while in the second group, their participants receive 1500mg of metformin/day. All participants were requested to report the effects of treatments on diabetic manifestations, their weights, body mass index (BMI), adverse effects, fasting and post-prandial blood glucose during treatment schedule. Blood samples from participants before and after treatment were taken for serum separation, which are used for measurement of serum lipids, liver enzymes, total and direct bilirubin, albumin, and insulin. It showed a significant decrease in serum levels of triglycerides (TGs), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC), liver alanine-, aspartate- and gamma glutamyl transaminase (ALT, AST, and GGT), total and direct bilirubin, fasting and post-prandial blood glucose, insulin, body weight and BMI while a significant increase in high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) and albumin but non-significant change of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in PO seeds treated subjects. Metformin (M) group has the same results of PO group except in high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC), LDLC, and ALP levels had a different pattern. PO seeds could be effective and safe as adjuvant therapy for Type-2 diabetic subjects. These results demonstrated that PO seeds possessed notable hypoglycaemic, hypolipidaemic and insulin resistance reducer effects; possibly due to its contents of polyunsaturated fatty acids, flavonoids, and polysaccharides.