Ethno-medicinal practices in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers in Kano state, north-western Nigeria

Diabetic foot ulceration is a severe complication of diabetes mellitus that results in considerable ill health, financial burden and mortality. Many people in Nigeria utilize medicinal plants to treat diabetic foot ulcer and related complications, nonetheless, the utilization of such plants has not been acknowledged. This study was done to validate and document the medicinal plants used in the remedy of diabetic foot ulcer in Kano State, Nigeria.

The target group of the study were herbalists and diabetic foot ulcer patients. The ethnobotanical information was obtained from willing respondents through an oral interview and a semi-structured questionnaire.

A total of 300 respondents were consulted in this study, and they exposed the utilization of 36 medicinal plants against diabetic foot ulcer. The frequently used plant families were Fabaceae and Rhamnaceae. Stem bark and leaves were the commonly reported plant parts used. The methods of preparation are usually by decoction or pounding the plant parts into powder; and the preparations are administered via topical (51%), oral (27%) and topical/oral (19%) routes. Moringa oleifera, Anisopus manni and Cadaba farinosa were the first three frequently cited species, while Ficus glumosa, Anogeissus leiocarpus, Guiera senegalensis were among the most preferred medicinal plants. Approximately 92% have been reported to be pharmacologically active, while 36% have similar ethno-medical claims in certain regions of the world.

This study revealed the ethno-medicinal practices against diabetic foot ulcer in Kano State. Scientific validation of the efficacy and safety of these plants would assist towards development of better drugs and integrating some of the species into orthodox medicine.