In Silico and In Vitro Studies of Rutin from Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels. var. album as an Antidiabetic α-Glucosidase Enzyme Inhibitor

Abstract

Diabetes is a serious global condition, ranking among the top 10 causes of adult death. Current α-glucosidase inhibitors (AGI) have undesirable side effects, highlighting the need to develop new AGI drugs with lower side effects using medicinal plants. Java plum (Syzygium cumini var. album) have traditionally been used to lower blood sugar. This study aimed to isolate active compounds from S. cumini and evaluate their activity against α-glucosidase inhibition, both in vitro and through computational modeling. The leaves and stem bark of S. cumini var. album were extracted using 70 % ethanol, while n-hexane, ethyl acetate, butanol, and water were used as solvents in the fractionation process. The mixtures were then eluted in a gradient manner using column chromatography, and the selected fraction was further isolated by radial chromatography. Identification of the isolated compounds was carried out based on spectroscopic data. Molecular docking was conducted using AutoDockTools 4.2.6 and visualized using BIOVIA Discovery Studio Visualizer v.21.1.0.20298. The results confirmed that the isolated compound identifies it as rutin. Acarbose was used as a reference drug in this study. Based on the docking results, rutin exhibited a more negative ΔG compared to acarbose. The binding energy for these interactions was –3.17 kcal/mol. The binding properties of this α-glucosidase inhibitor resemble those of acarbose. Rutin has an IC50 value of 48.36 ± 0.4 μg/mL, which is slightly higher than that of acarbose, at 45.84 ± 0.27 μg/mL, in inhibiting α-glucosidase. Overall, rutin isolated from S. cumini var. album leaves shows potential for development as an anti-diabetic drug by inhibiting α-glucosidase.