"In Vitro Studies on Alpha Amylase Inhibitory Activity of Some Indigenous Plants"

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by high blood glucose level caused due to deficiency of insulin secretion or insulin action. It includes a group of metabolic diseases characterized by hyperglycemia, in which blood sugar levels are elevated either because the pancreas do not produce enough insulin or cells do not respond to the produced insulin. Thus, a therapeutic approach to treat diabetes is to decrease postprandial hyperglycemia in patients with type II diabetes. It can be achieved by the inhibition of carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes like alpha amylase and alpha glucosidase. Such inhibitors which find application in the clinical practice for management of diabetes are known to be associated with various gastrointestinal side effects. Therefore, it is the need of time to identify and explore the amylase inhibitors from natural sources having fewer side effects. In the present study, aqueous extracts of selected plants namely Albizzia lebbeck, Berberis aristata, Mucuna pruriens, Myristica fragrans, Catharanthus roseus, and Caesalpinia bonducella which are used in the Ayurvedic traditional system of medicine to treat diabetes were tested for their inhibitory effect on α-amylase. The results revealed that the extract of A. lebbeck at a concentration of 1000µg/ml exhibited an inhibition of 70.91%, whereas the extracts of B. aristata and M. pruriens showed an inhibition of 65.24% and 62.96 % respectively at a similar concentration. The extracts of C. roseus, M. fragrans and C. bonducella exhibited a relatively less inhibitory response for the α-amylase enzyme. The results of the work thus clearly indicate the potential of the studied extracts to manage hyperglycemia