Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa.
Agricultural Research Council (ARC), Vegetable and Ornamental Plants, Private Bag X923, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.
Molecules. 2020 Jun 9;25(11):2669. doi: 10.3390/molecules25112669.
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a prevalent, multifactorial and complex disease that is associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes and other major cardiovascular complications. The rise in the global prevalence of MetS has been attributed to genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors. The adoption of sedentary lifestyles that are characterized by low physical activity and the consumption of high-energy diets contributes to MetS development. Current management criteria for MetS risk factors involve changes in lifestyle and the use of pharmacological agents that target specific biochemical pathways involved in the metabolism of nutrients. Pharmaceutical drugs are usually expensive and are associated with several undesirable side effects. Alternative management strategies of MetS risk factors involve the use of medicinal plants that are considered to have multiple therapeutic targets and are easily accessible. Medicinal plants contain several different biologically active compounds that provide health benefits. The impact of phytochemicals present in local medicinal plants on sustainable health and well-being of individuals has been studied for many years and found to involve a plethora of complex biochemical, metabolic, and physiological mechanisms. While some of these phytochemicals are the basis of mainstream prescribed drugs (e.g., metformin, reserpine, quinine, and salicin), there is a need to identify more medicinal plants that can be used for the management of components of MetS and to describe their possible mechanisms of action. In this review, we assess the potential health benefits of South African ethnomedicinal plants in protecting against the development of health outcomes associated with MetS. We aim to provide the state of the current knowledge on the use of medicinal plants and their therapeutically important phytochemicals by discussing the current trends, with critical examples from recent primary references of how medicinal plants are being used in South African rural and urban communities.
代谢综合征（MetS）是一种普遍存在的、多因素的、复杂的疾病，与糖尿病和其他主要心血管并发症的风险增加有关。MetS 全球患病率的上升归因于遗传、表观遗传和环境因素。久坐不动的生活方式的采用，其特点是低体力活动和高能量饮食的摄入，导致 MetS 的发展。MetS 危险因素的现行管理标准包括生活方式的改变和使用针对参与营养代谢的特定生化途径的药物。药物治疗通常很昂贵，并且与许多不良副作用有关。MetS 危险因素的替代管理策略包括使用被认为具有多个治疗靶点且易于获得的药用植物。药用植物含有几种不同的具有生物活性的化合物，可提供健康益处。多年来，人们一直在研究当地药用植物中存在的植物化学物质对个体可持续健康和福祉的影响，发现涉及到大量复杂的生化、代谢和生理机制。虽然其中一些植物化学物质是主流处方药（如二甲双胍、利血平、奎宁和水杨苷）的基础，但仍需要确定更多可用于管理 MetS 成分的药用植物，并描述其可能的作用机制。在这篇综述中，我们评估了南非民族药用植物在预防与 MetS 相关的健康结果方面的潜在健康益处。我们旨在提供关于药用植物及其治疗上重要的植物化学物质的使用的当前知识的状态，通过讨论当前的趋势，并以最近的南非农村和城市社区中药用植物使用的主要参考文献中的批判性例子来说明。
