A Review on Experimental Models to Test Medicinal Plants on Postprandial Blood Glucose in Diabetes

Abstract

Abstract: Due to the gravity of postprandial hyperglycemia in the development of both microvascular and macrovascular diseases in diabetics, many medicinal plants are tested to determine their effectiveness in glycemic control and the mechanisms of action of the products. Consequently, various diabetic models have been developed and enhanced over the years. The objective of this review is to describe some of the experimental models used to study the effect of medicinal plants used to control postprandial hyperglycemia. Information was collected from PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Google scholar (1953-2019). Fifty-seven (57) studies were included in this review article. Ten models were identified and described. For each model, we described the targets involved and their roles in postprandial blood glucose control. The targets such as α-glucosidase enzyme, SGLT1, GLUT2, DPP-IV, Na+/K+ ATPase pump, or intestinal motility in the models, experiment design and procedures were described. This review will facilitate the selection of the most appropriate model for studying agents used to investigate postprandial blood glucose.