Bachir El Bouhali

BACKGROUND: Globally, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing at an alarming rate. This chronic pathology gravely troubled the human health and quality of life. Both insulin deficiency and insulin resistance are involved in the pathophysiology of diabetes mellitus. Moreover, insulin resistance is being diagnosed nowadays in a growing population of diabetic and obese patients, especially in industrialized societies. There are lots of conventional agents available to control and to treat diabetes, but total recovery from this disorder has not been reported up to this date. Plants provided a potential source of hypoglycemic drugs and are widely used in several traditional systems of medicine to prevent diabetes. A few reviews with less attention paid to mechanisms of action have been published on antidiabetic plants. OBJECTIVES: The present review focuses on the various plants that have been reported to be effective in improving insulin sensitivity associated with diabetes. KEY FINDINGS: In this work, an updated systematic review of the published literature has been conducted to review the antidiabetic plants improving insulin sensitivity and 111 medicinal plants have been reported to have a beneficial effect on insulin sensitivity using several in-vitro and in-vivo animal models of diabetes. CONCLUSION: The different metabolic and cellular effects of the antidiabetic plants improving insulin sensitivity are reported indicating the important role of medicinal plants as potential alternative or complementary use in controlling insulin resistance associated with diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: Dietary patterns, eating behaviour and lifestyle are changing in Morocco. It would be interesting to identify and evaluate this transition in its Mediterranean context. AIMS: To assess adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) and analyse associated factors in school-age children living in oasis environments. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 3684 school-age children between May 2015 and November 2017 in Tafilalet Oasis. The mean age was 9.81 (2.13), 51.3% were girls, and 62.7% were from urban areas. Participants were recruited from public primary schools. Adherence to the MedDiet was evaluated by Mediterranean Diet Quality (KIDMED) index. Socioeconomic characteristics and anthropometric measurements were obtained. RESULTS: Only 2.12% had a poor KIDMED index, 57.9% had an average index and 39.98% had a high index. Maternal ethnicity was associated with degree of adherence to the MedDiet. Poor adherence was seen in 2.17% of urban participants compared with 2.04% of rural participants. Participants with high income were more likely to have good adherence to the MedDiet. Low levels of parental education were more likely to result in higher levels of poor adherence. There was no significant correlation between body weight and KIDMED index. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the study population had medium to good adherence to MedDiet, but low KIDMED index was observed. Interventions and strategies should be devised for preserving and promoting healthy eating habits in this target population.

Sunlight is the main source of vitamin D. Almost 80% of vitamin D3 is produced in the skin. The region of Draa Tafilalet benefits from long daily sunshine time. As such, vitamin D deficiency should be low in this region. However, dressing habits can highly influence vitamin D status. This study aimed to evaluate sun exposure and its relation to vitamin D status among the general population in the region of Draa-Tafilalet, Morocco. Clinical, biological, and sociodemographic data were obtained from 331 adults visiting local healthcare units during the summers of 2019 and 2020. Plasma 25(OH)D 2 /D3 was measured by immunofluorescence. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was 37.5%, while Vitamin D insufficiency represented 56.5%. Most of the studied population (76.4%) had restricting dressing habits and exposed only their faces. statistic tests showed a correlation of vitamin D levels with daily sun exposure (r= 0.308, p<0.001), dressing habits (p<0.001), age (r= -0.141, p=0.01), sex (p<0.001), physical activity level (p=0.003), and BMI (r= -0.298, p<0.001). The study showed a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in this region. Similarly, it exposed the effects of restricting clothes and low daily sun exposure on vitamin D status.