DOI: 10.21276/sajp.2018.7.7.2

Pages: 300-307

Diabetes is a clinical syndrome characterized by hyperglycemia due to absolute or relative deficiency of insulin. Rhus aromatica is a deciduous shrub in the family Anacardiaceae native to Canada and the United states. The aim of the current study was to screen the Rhus aromatica mother tincture for its in vitro antidiabetic activity. One antidiabetic therapeutic approach is to reduce gastrointestinal glucose production and absorption through the inhibition of carbohydrate digesting enzymes such as α- amylase and α-glucosidase. Inhibition of amylase and glucosidase enzymes involved in digestion of carbohydrates can significantly decrease the post prandial increase of blood glucose after a mixed carbohydrate diet and therefore can be an important strategy in management of blood glucose. Free radicals are atoms or molecules that have at least an unpaired electron in their outer most shell or orbital,which are not contributing to molecular bonding and are capable of independent existence. Free radicals involving oxygen atoms are known as reactive oxygen species (ROS). In diabetic complication free radicals are generated, some of the most important ROS and RNS in vascular cells.