Table1_Antidiabetic Medicinal Plants Used in Democratic Republic of Congo: A Critical Review of Ethnopharmacology and Bioactivity Data.XLSX

Several studies have been conducted and published on medicinal plants used to manage Diabetes Mellitus worldwide. It is of great interest to review available studies from a country or a region to resort to similarities/discrepancies and data quality. Here, we examined data related to ethnopharmacology and bioactivity of antidiabetic plants used in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Data were extracted from Google Scholar, Medline/PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, the Wiley Online Library, Web of Science, and other documents focusing on ethnopharmacology, pharmacology, and phytochemistry antidiabetic plants used in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2005 to September 2021. The Kew Botanic Royal Garden and Plants of the World Online web databases were consulted to verify the taxonomic information. CAMARADES checklist was used to assess the quality of animal studies and Jadad scores for clinical trials. In total, 213 plant species belonging to 72 botanical families were reported. Only one plant, Droogmansia munamensis, is typically native to the DRC flora; 117 species are growing in the DRC and neighboring countries; 31 species are either introduced from other regions, and 64 are not specified. Alongside the treatment of Diabetes, about 78.13% of plants have multiple therapeutic uses, depending on the study sites. Experimental studies explored the antidiabetic activity of 133 plants, mainly in mice, rats, guinea pigs, and rabbits. Several chemical classes of antidiabetic compounds isolated from 67 plant species have been documented. Rare phase II clinical trials have been conducted. Critical issues included poor quality methodological protocols, author name incorrectly written (16.16%) or absent (14.25%) or confused with a synonym (4.69%), family name revised (17.26%) or missing (1.10%), voucher number not available 336(92.05%), ecological information not reported (49.59%). Most plant species have been identified and authenticated (89.32%). Hundreds of plants are used to treat Diabetes by traditional healers in DRC. However, most plants are not exclusively native to the local flora and have multiple therapeutic uses. The analysis showed the scarcity or absence of high-quality, in-depth pharmacological studies. There is a need to conduct further studies of locally specific species to fill the gap before their introduction into the national pharmacopeia.

全球范围内，针对用于治疗糖尿病（Diabetes Mellitus）的药用植物的相关研究已开展并发表。系统梳理某一国家或区域的现有研究，以考察其研究的异同之处与数据质量，具有重要学术价值。本研究针对刚果民主共和国境内用于抗糖尿病的药用植物的民族药理学（ethnopharmacology）与生物活性相关数据展开梳理。本次研究的数据提取范围涵盖2005年至2021年9月期间发表的、聚焦刚果民主共和国抗糖尿病药用植物的民族药理学、药理学与植物化学相关文献，来源包括Google Scholar、Medline/PubMed、Scopus、ScienceDirect、Wiley Online Library、Web of Science及其他相关文档。研究依托英国皇家植物园（Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew）与《世界植物在线（Plants of the World Online）》数据库对物种分类学信息进行验证。本研究采用CAMARADES量表评估动物实验的研究质量，并采用Jadad评分量表评估临床试验质量。本次研究共记录到隶属于72个植物科的213种植物。其中仅Droogmansia munamensis这1种植物为刚果民主共和国本土特有物种；117种植物分布于刚果民主共和国及其周边国家；31种为外来引种物种，另有64种的来源未明确标注。除用于糖尿病治疗外，约78.13%的植物根据研究区域的不同，兼具多种其他治疗用途。实验研究针对其中133种植物的抗糖尿病活性展开了验证，实验动物主要为小鼠、大鼠、豚鼠与兔。研究已记录到从67种植物中分离得到的多类抗糖尿病活性化合物。目前开展的II期临床试验（phase II clinical trials）数量极少。本次研究识别出多项关键问题：实验方法学方案质量低下；作者姓名书写错误（占比16.16%）、缺失（占比14.25%）或与同物异名混淆（占比4.69%）；科名修订（占比17.26%）或缺失（占比1.10%）；标本凭证编号缺失的文献占比达92.05%（共336篇）；生态信息未报告的文献占比49.59%。大多数植物物种（占比89.32%）已完成鉴定与认证。刚果民主共和国的传统医者常用数百种植物治疗糖尿病。然而，绝大多数受试植物并非刚果民主共和国本土特有物种，且兼具多种治疗用途。分析结果显示，当前领域内高质量、深入的药理学研究仍较为匮乏甚至缺失。未来需针对本土特有物种开展进一步研究，以填补相关空白，推动其纳入国家药典。