Botanical Name : Gymnema sylvestre
Sanskrit Name: Meshashringi, Vishani, Madhunashini                                    
English Name : Gymnema
Family : Asclepiadaceae                                           
Part used: leaf                       

Description of Gymnema sylvestre:
It is found in the Deccan Peninsula, extending to parts of northern and western India. It is occasionally cultivated as a medicinal plant. G.sylvestre is a large, more or less pubescent, woody climber. The leaves are opposite, elliptic or ovate; the flowers are small, yellow and in umbellate cymes; the follicles are terete, lanceolate and up to 3 inches in length.

Principal Constituents:
Aqueous extract of the leaves contains antisweet principles gymnema saponins I-IV and gymnemic acids I-IX

Pharmacology:
Water-soluble extracts were tested in streptozotocin treated rats. Blood pressure and glucose level return to normal levels after 60 days of oral administration. Also in pancreas islet number and b-cell number were doubled. This herbal therapy appears to bring about blood glucose homeostasis through increased serum insulin levels provided by repair presentation of the endocrine pancreas.The Alcoholic extract of the leaves of G.sylvestre was studied to know the hepatoprotective action in a dose of 300mg/kg against CCl4induced damage. The extracts were found to be effective in preventing damage, which was evidenced by morphological, biochemical and functional parameters

Clinical Studies:
GS4, an extract from the leaves of G.sylvestre, was administered (400mg/day) for 18-20 months as a supplement to the conventional oral drugs. During GS4 supplementation, the patients showed a significant reduction in blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin and glycosylated plasma proteins, and conventional drug dosage could be decreased. Five of the 22 type 2 diabetic patients were able to discontinue their conventional drug and maintain their blood glucose homeostasis with GS4 alone.

Toxicology:
Little is known about the long-term safety of the plant, but it generally has not been associated with human toxicity.

Indications:
Gymnemic acid has anti-diabetic property. It has an inhibitory effect on plasma glucose and serum insulin in man. The plant is stomachic, stimulant, laxative and diuretic. The leaves of the plant, when chewed, possess the remarkable property of paralysing, for a few hours, the sense of taste for sweet and bitter substances; the taste for acid foods is not affected while the taste for salty foods is very slightly, if at all, influenced.

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