Researchers evaluate the antidiabetic activity of Mentha arvensis (wild mint)

In this study, Indian researchers investigated the ability of Mentha arvensis (wild mint) to inhibit postprandial hyperglycemia. They reported their findings in an article published in the Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine.

• Interest in the use of alternative medicines to control diabetes, oxidative stress and related disorders has increased in recent years.
• One promising therapeutic approach is to reduce the postprandial release of glucose in the blood.
• Two enzymes that can be targeted to achieve this are a-amylase and a-glucosidase.
• M. arvensis, a medicinal herb traditionally used to treat various disorders, is a promising alternative treatment for diabetes.
• For their experiment, the researchers tested methanolic extracts derived from M. arvensis leaves on male rats.
• They also performed various in vitro tests to evaluate the anti-diabetic activity of the extracts.
• The researchers reported that the M. arvensis methanolic extract showed DPPH free radical scavenging activity and high antiglycation potential (more than 90 percent inhibition of AGE formation).
• It also showed remarkable inhibitory activity against a-amylase and ?-glucosidase and significantly inhibited postprandial hyperglycemia in rats with starch-induced diabetes.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that M. arvensis has noninsulin-dependent antidiabetic activity and can be used to inhibit postprandial hyperglycemia.

Read the full study at this link.

Journal Reference:

Agawane SB, Gupta VS, Kulkarni MJ, Bhattacharya AK, Koratkar SS. CHEMO-BIOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF ANTIDIABETIC ACTIVITY OF MENTHA ARVENSIS L. AND ITS ROLE IN INHIBITION OF ADVANCED GLYCATION END PRODUCTS. Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine. 2019;10(3):166-170. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaim.2017.07.003