SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS AND MECHANISM OF ACTION OF TWO DIFFERENT PLANT SPECIES OF FAMILY CUCURBITACEAE - MOMORDICA CHARANTHIA AND CITRULLUS COLOCYNTHIS IN TREATMENT OF TYPE II DIABETES MELLITUS

Diabetes mellitus is one of the common and most concerning endocrine disease world-wide.Multiple natural products are beneficial for treating Type II Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM).Among many well-known plant families, Cucurbitaceae has different species having reported antihyperglycaemic activity.Momordica charantia is a common plant in Asian subcontinents, Africa and other tropical regions.The fruits of M. charantia are consumed as vegetable.These fruits have multiple biological activities like anti-helminthic, stomachic and laxative.The phytoconstituents responsible for anti-hyperglycemic activity includes momordicin -a triterpenoid saponin, charantin -a non-steroidal glycoside, and galactose-binding lectin.Apart from inhibiting glucose uptake from gut, the fruit juice also increases uptake of glucose in skeletal muscle, thereby reducing the blood glucose level.M. charantia demonstrated regeneration of insulin secreting pancreatic beta cells.Another important plant of this same family is Citrullus colocynthis or bitter apple.It has laxative, anti-helminthic and antiinflammatory activities.The phytoconstituents responsible for its anti-hyperglycemic effect is postulated to include isoorientin, cucurbitacin B, cucurbitacin E, and cucurbitacin I.The main mechanism of C. colocynthis includes increased insulin secretion from pancreas and reduced absorption of glucose from gut.The fruits of both the species significantly reduce the blood