Ethnobotanique de la Nation crie d'Eeyou Istchee et variation géographique des plantes médicinales antidiabétiques
Type 2 diabetes has reached epidemic proportions among Canada’s aboriginal populations and affects on average 29% of adult Cree of Eeyou Istchee (CEI). In collaboration with the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay and the CIHR team in Traditional Antidiabetic Aboriginal Medicines, interviews were held in the CEI communities of Wemindji and Oujé-Bougoumou to identify potential antidiabetic plants. Using a quantitative approach, species mentioned were ranked and compared to the pharmacopoeia of other participating communities. Sixteen and 25 plants were mentioned in Wemindji and Oujé-Bougoumou respectively. Seven new plant and one fungal species were added to the list of potential antidiabetic species, although most of those mentioned were common to the general CEI pharmacopoeia, thus supporting the cultural importance that they hold. Phytochemical analyses of two of these species, Rhododendron groenlandicum and Sarracenia purpurea, were made from accessions harvested throughout Eeyou Istchee. While no pattern was detected in the variation of S. purpurea’s biologically active compounds, phenolic compounds from R. groenlandicum, specifically (+)-catchin, (-)-epicatechin and quercetin-3-galactoside, varied spatially as a function of insolation parameters such as solar radiation or photoperiod. Samples from the latter, tested in vitro in the 3T3-L1 murine adipocytes adipogenesis bioassay, increased the intracellular accumulation of triglycerides, thus conferring it a glitazone-like antidiabetic activity. This activity, however, was weaker in accessions with high quercetin content, which could have an impact on the quality of a natural health product made from this species.
Rhododendron groenlandicum Type 2 diabetes Sarracenia purpurea Ethnobotany Eeyou Istchee Cree First Nations Phytochemistry Photoinhibition Geographical variations Adipogenesis Medicinal plants Natural health products