RECENT ADVANCES AND METHODS FOR IN-VITRO EVALUATION OF ANTIDIAETIC ACTIVITY: A REVIEW

Abstract

The antidiabetic properties of synthetic or natural substances can be evaluated by in-vitro methods such as study of glucose uptake, effect on glycosylation of the hemoglobin and inhibition of alpha amylase, alpha glucosidase and sucrase enzymes. The inhibitory nature of a test compound on alpha amylase enzyme reflects the antidiabetic activity because of unavailability of glucose from gastrointestinal tract. Alpha-glucose inhibitor reduces the impact of glucose on blood sugar and hence alpha glycosidase inhibitors can be considered as oral antidiabetic drugs. Once a hemoglobin molecule is glycated, because of high blood glucose level, it remains that way. Hence the estimation of glycated hemoglobin is important tool in the antidiabetic screening procedure. The inhibition of such glucose uptake by yeast cell is an important tool for the evaluation of antidiabetic property. Glucose diffusion assay is a simple diffusion method to evaluate the glucose movement in vitro and is expressed in terms of glucose diffusion retardation index (GDRI). In vitro technique like cell culture is one of the important methods to evaluate the activity. Level of insulin secretion in culture of HIT-T15 cells is also reported for evaluation of antidiabetic activity.