| ") is also known by various names such as gurmar, periploca of the woods, and meshashringi (ram�s horn). It has been used since ancient times to treat many health conditions. It is a climbing plant that grows in the tropical forests of central and southern India. The woody meshashringi plant also grows in parts of Africa. " " The leaves of this long, slender plant have been used for more than 2,000 years in India to treat diabetes. On account of its property of abolishing the taste of sugar, it was given the Indian names of " " In the past, powdered meshashringi root was used to treat snake bites, constipation, stomach complaints, water retention, and liver disease. However, meshashringi is best known in Ayurveda as a treatment for adult-onset diabetes, a condition once described as �honey urine�. " " Extracts of this plant are widely used in Australian, Japanese, Vietnamese and Indian folk medicine. Meshashringi preparations have a profound action on the modulation of taste, particularly suppressing sweet taste sensations. It is used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Anti-allergic, antiviral, lipid lowering and other effects are also reported1. " " Thousands of years ago, type 2 diabetes was treated with meshashringi. The plant�s sugar-destroying property was released when a person chewed on one or two leaves. Meshashringi was said to �paralyse� a person�s tongue to sweet and bitter tastes. This taste-blocking reaction lasted for several hours. " " Meshashringi blocked sugar in the digestive system, resulting in a decrease in blood sugar. This is known as a hypoglycemic effect. This action has been studied since the late 1930s. " " Meshashringi has also been used in folk medicine as a remedy for allergies, urinary tract inflections, anaemia, hyperactivity, digestion, cholesterol, and weight control. Most of those treatments did not prove to be effective. Meshashringi lowers cholesterol slightly, but not enough to be regarded as a significant remedy. " " Recent studies have demonstrated the efficacy of this herb in diabetes. Persaud et al. found that meshashringi helped control blood sugar levels by stimulating insulin release from the beta cells in the islets of langerhans2. " " Another study by Bhaskaran et al. found that the same meshashringi preparation (400 mg/day) produced similar results for non insulin-dependent diabetics. Fasting blood glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin and glycosylated plasma protein were significantly reduced compared to baseline values after 18-20 months of treatment. " " By the end of the treatment period, cholesterol, triglycerides, phospholipids and free fatty acid levels were also significantly reduced compared to baseline values. " " Meshashringi has also been used to treat drug-induced hyperglycemia. Gholap et al. studied the effects of meshashringi in the regulation of serum cortisol and glucose concentrations. Meshashringi was found to exhibit hypoglycaemic activity without altering the serum cortisol concentration. It is possible that the hypoglycaemic effects of meshashringi are mediated through their cortisol inhibiting potency4. " " Previous clinical trials have recorded the benefits of meshashringi in diabetic patients. A controlled study on insulin-dependent diabetics found that a water-soluble meshashringi extract (400 mg/day) reduced insulin requirements (by about 50%). " " Over the duration of treatment, meshashringi lowered fasting mean blood glucose (by about 35%), glycosylated haemoglobin and glycosylated plasma protein levels from baseline values. Cholesterol was significantly reduced and brought to near normal levels. Triglycerides, free fatty acids and serum amylase were also lowered. The treatment period ranged from six to 30 months. " " The significant decrease in glycosylated haemoglobin occurred after six to eight months of treatment, but remained significantly higher than normal values. None of these reductions was observed in control patients on insulin therapy alone who were studied over a period of 10 to 12 months. " " The authors suggested that meshashringi enhanced endogenous insulin production, possibly by pancreatic regeneration, as levels of C-peptide, a by-product of the conversion of pro-insulin to insulin, were apparently raised (in comparison to both the insulin alone group and normal subjects)5. " " To unravel the possible mechanism of glucose lowering activity, the effects of 10 different plant extracts in the regulation of blood glucose were evaluated in male mice. While the
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