Utilization of Swertia chirayita Plant Extracts for Management of Diabetes and Associated Disorders: Present Status, Future Prospects and Limitations

ABSTRACT: Diabetes mellitus is referred as common metabolic abnormalities characterized as hyperglycemia, mainly caused due to insufficient production of insulin at cellular level or/and defects in insulin action. Such an endocrine disorder is responsible for serious health problems and its worldwide prevalence is rapidly increasing. Common management of diabetes by oral administration of drugs without creating any side effects is still considered a challenging task and increasing cost of conventional medicine in developing countries is another matter of concern. To address these issues, traditional preparations of herbal plant extracts in the form of medicines already gained immense attention. Swertia chirayita is one among such plants which is known for its hypoglycemic potential. Numerous chemical constituents with promising pharmacological properties have been identified from such plant extracts but still, such compounds have not been well characterized, specifically against human application. Hence, more research efforts are necessitated to understand exact mechanism of such compounds and to develop overall safety of such plant formulations. Present review clearly represents antidiabetic properties of Swertia chirayita extract, strategies to be taken to strengthen its safety application on humans and biotechnological interventions that ensure conservation of such endangered species to promote its future application in modern medicine. GRAPHIC ABSTRACT: [Image: see text]