International Journal of Diabetology & Vascular Disease Research, 2014 © 63 Eddouks M and Zeggwagh NA (2014) A Short Review of Some Medicinal Plants And Phytocompounds With Hypotensive And Hypoglycemic Activities. Int J Diabetol Vasc Dis Res. 2(5), 63-66. International Journal of Diabetology & Vascular Disease Research(IJDVR) ISSN 2328-353X A Short Review of Some Medicinal Plants And Phytocompounds With Hypotensive And Hypoglycemic Activities Research Article Eddouks M * and Zeggwagh NA Faculty of Sciences and Techniques Errachidia , Moulay Ismail University, BP 21, Errachidia , Morocco. *Corresponding Author: Eddouks M, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques Errachidia , Moulay Ismail University, BP 21, Errachidia , Morocco. Tel: 00212535574497; Fax: 00212535574485 E-mail: mohamed.eddouks@laposte.net Receiverd: July 12, 2014 Accepted: July 26, 2014 Published: July 29, 2014 Citation: Eddouks M and Zeggwagh NA (2014) A Short Review of Some Medicinal Plants And Phytocompounds With Hypotensive And Hypoglycemic Activities. Int J Diabetol Vasc Dis Res. 2(5), 63-66. Copyright: Eddouks M © 2014. This is an open-access article distrib- uted under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any me- dium, provided the original author and source are credited. Introduction The serious health risks posed by hyperglycemia and hyper- tension need little elaboration. Diabetes mellitus, which mani- fests itself hyperglycemia and other symptoms, would lead, if untreated, to a myriad of complications including retinopa- thy, neuropathy, coronary heart disease, stroke, etc. Hyperten- sion and hypercholesterolemia may also result in cerebrovas- cular accident and myocardial infarction if not well taken care of. Athrerosclerosis is thickening and hardening of the vessel walls due to soft deposits of intra-arterial fat and ibrin that harden over time [1,2]. Hypertension appears if atherosclero- sis increases systemic vascular resistance [3-7]. Atherosclero- sis contributes to coronary artery and cerebrovascular disease. Natural products furnish a good source for treatment of diabe- tes and hypertension around the world especially in developing countries. In fact, the fungal product mevinolin, a competitive inhibitor of P-hydroxy-p-methylglutaryl CoA reductase, is used to treat hypercholesterolemia, and a host of related drugs (statins) with antiatherosclerotic and antithrombotic properties have been developed [8,12]. Biguanides such as metformin, which has been in use for the treatment of non-insulin-dependent diabe- tes mellitus, are derived from guanidine, another natural product. Many medicinal plants have demonstrated to exert antidiabetic and hypotensive activities in different animal models as well as in vitro and a lot of compounds responsible for this pharma- cological activity have been isolated [13-16]. This non-exhaus- tive short review focuses on some medicinal plants and botani- cal compounds with hypoglycemic and hypotensive activities Plants And Phytocompounds with Hypoglycemic Activity Acacia arabica Wadood et al demonstrated that Acacia arabica seeds contained substance(s) which depressed the blood glucose level in normo- glycaemic but not in alloxan-diabetic rabbits, suggesting that the mechanism of action involved release of insulin from pancreatic beta-cells [17]. Artemisiu herba alba Aerial parts of Artemisia herba alba, which is used in Iraqi folk medicine as an anti-diabetic agent, exerted a signiicant hypogly- cemic action on normoglycemic and alloxan-diabetic rats [5]. Cleome droserifolia An extract of the plant suppressed the basal blood glucose level and also the postprandial hyperglycemia in rats rendered glucose- intolerant with tetracycline. Potentiation of peripheral and hepatic insulin sensitivity and reduction of intestinal glucose absorption were implicated in the mechanism of hypoglycemic action of the plant extract. Additionally, the extract might possess anti-athero- genic activity in view of its ability to elevate the ratio of high den- sity lipoprotein-cholesterol to low density lipoprotein-cholesterol in the blood [18,19]. Eugenia jamboluna The pulp as well as the seed extract of E. jambolana fruits dis- played hypoglycemic activity. Serum insulin level rose after oral administration of the extracts in normoglycemic and streptozo- tocin-induced diabetic rats. Insulin secretion from isolated islets of Langerhans from normal and diabetic rats was augmented af- ter incubation with the extracts [20,21]. Abstract This paper aims to review some medicinal plants and compounds of botanical origin which are capable to lower plasma glucose levels and blood pressure. Hypoglycemic natural products comprise lavonoids, xanthones, triterpenoids, alkaloids, glycosides, alkyldisulides. aminobutyric acid derivatives, guanidine, polysaccharides and peptides. Hypotensive compounds include lavonoids, diterpenes, alka- loids, glycosides, polysaccharides and proteins. Keywords: Blood pressure, hypoglycemic activity and medicinal plants.