Methods for treating disorders using plant extracts

Abstract

The present invention provides materials and methods relating to mildly polar fluid extracts of plant materials, such as Artemisia plant species, useful in methods for treating diabetes and methods for modulating the activity of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), and in methods for modulating phosphoenol pyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) activity in a diabetes-specific manner. The extracts are generally non-toxic and non-mutagenic and may be administered to diabetics with beneficial effect on blood glucose levels. The extracts may also be administered to non-diabetics without deleterious effect. The plants are easily grown with a minimum of time, labor, and cost. Extracts are inexpensively and quickly prepared without the need for fractionation to remove potentially deleterious compounds, and the extracts may be administered to mammals such as humans through various routes, in a variety of forms, and at convenient concentrations.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to materials and methods for treating a disorder using plants. More specifically, the invention relates to materials and methods for treating a disorder using extracts of the plant genus Artemisia. BACKGROUND Diabetes is a major health concern, as evidenced by the number of people it affects as well as the costs incurred in treating or preventing it. According to the American Diabetes Association, there are 15.7 million people, or 5.9% of the U.S. population, that suffer from diabetes. Only about 10.3 million of these people have been diagnosed with the disease. With approximately 5.4 million people unaware that they have this chronic condition, diabetes ranks as the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. The costs associated with efforts to treat and / or to prevent the condition are commensurate with the number of people afflicted, both in the U.S. and throughout the world. Diabetes is a complex condition or disease that is mos...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides a convenient method for obtaining extracts from plants such as Artemisia and using them to modulate blood glucose levels and GLP-1 activity in mammals. The extracts can be used to control blood glucose levels, promote weight gain, and treat Type 2 diabetes. The invention also provides a method for reducing insulin resistance and a pharmaceutical composition containing the extracts. The extracts can be administered through various routes, including injection and oral. Overall, the invention provides a safe and effective way to manage blood glucose levels and treat diabetes."

Problems solved by technology

The disorder results from an inability to control blood glucose levels, for example due to insufficient levels or activity of insulin.

Elevated glucose levels, in turn, often lead to secondary health problems that require additional medical treatment.

While these health risks are associated with diabetes, they are not, by themselves, useful indicators of diabetes.

Drug therapy, however, does not always achieve satisfactory glycemic control and insulin use often promotes hypoglycemia.

Moreover, these conventional treatments often lower blood glucose by promoting the non-selective uptake of glucose by many cells, including adipocytes, which contributes to undesirable weight gain.

Additionally, traditional treatments, like insulin injections, are expensive and can be painful to administer.

The authors of this study did not, however, test for the presence of mutagens or toxins and did not explore the use of such extracts to treat disorders, diseases or conditions other than hyperlipidemia.

Extracts were never prepared from the tarragon.

PCT Publication WO 97 / 35598 describes aqueous (i.e., water) extracts of Artemisia judaica as having an insulinomimetic anti-diabetic effect, but also notes the presence of a deleterious mutagen that would render the crude extract unsuitable for administration to mammals such as humans.

Therefore, not all Artemisia plants, e.g., not A. judaica, appear suitable for use in extracts for treating mammals having a disorder such as diabetes.

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