Inhibition of α‐Glucosidase, Intestinal Glucose Absorption, and Antidiabetic Properties by Caralluma europaea

Abstract

Many medicinal plants around the world are used for therapeutic purposes against several diseases, including diabetes mellitus. Due to their composition of natural substances that are effective and do not represent side effects for users, unlike synthetic drugs, in this study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of Caralluma europaea (CE) on α-glucosidase activity in vitro; then the kinetics of the enzyme were studied with increasing concentrations of sucrose in order to determine the inhibition type of the enzyme. In addition, this effect of Caralluma europaea (CE) was confirmed in vivo using rats as an experimental animal model. Among the five fractions of CE, only the ethyl acetate fraction of C. europaea (EACe) induced a significant inhibition of α-glucosidase and its inhibition mode was competitive. The in vivo studies were conducted on mice and rats using glucose and sucrose as a substrate, respectively, to determine the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The results obtained showed that the EACe and the aqueous extract of C. europaea (AECe) have significantly reduced the postprandial hyperglycemia after sucrose and glucose loading in normal and diabetic rats. AECe, also, significantly decreased intestinal glucose absorption, in situ. The results obtained showed that Caralluma europaea has a significant antihyperglycemic activity, which could be due to the inhibition of α-glucosidase activity and enteric absorption of glucose.

Comprehensive Chemical Profiling and Multidirectional Biological Investigation of Two Wild Anthemis Species (Anthemis tinctoria var. Pallida and A. cretica subsp. tenuiloba): Focus on Neuroprotective Effects

“…α-Amylase and α-glucosidase are considered as key therapeutic targets for the management of type II diabetes. α-Amylase and α-glucosidase are carbohydrate hydrolysing enzymes, responsible for the breakdown of carbohydrates into glucose [35,36]. The present study showed that all ATP and ACT extracts displayed weak α-amylase inhibitory effects, despite being active α-glucosidase inhibitors.…”

Evaluation of Hepatoprotective Activity of Caralluma europaea Stem Extract against CCl4-Induced Hepatic Damage in Wistar Rats

“…However, rats treated with AECe + CCl 4 showed a significant reduction in plasma glucose concentration in comparison with the CCl 4 -treated group. In our investigation, AECe could enhance insulin secretion and stimulate the storage of glucose by the peripheral glucose uptake [ 19 ]. For the lipid profile, the serum levels of triglyceride and VLDL-c showed remarkable increases in CCl 4 -treated rats.…”

“…The aqueous extract of C. europaea was administered at a single dose of 250 mg/kg. The dose of the aqueous extract of C. europaea (250 mg/kg) was selected based on the previous efficacy studies (acute and subacute toxicity studies and many previous pharmacological activities of C. europaea ) [ 19 , 26 ]. Silymarin (40 mg/kg) was administered to the animals orally [ 27 ].…”

“…Also, the stems roasted are administered with garlic and tomato as an antidiabetic salad [ 10 ]. Several pharmacological reports have confirmed the antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiproliferative, antidiabetic, and anti-inflammatory activities of C. europaea [ 15 – 19 ]. Moreover, previous studies have been reported on the biological activities of extracts obtained from many species of Caralluma such as hepatoprotective [ 1 ], anti-inflammatory [ 20 ], antidiabetic [ 21 ], antioxidant [ 22 ], and cytotoxic [ 23 ] activities.…”

Opuntia dillenii (Ker Gawl.) Haw., Seeds Oil Antidiabetic Potential Using In Vivo, In Vitro, In Situ, and Ex Vivo Approaches to Reveal Its Underlying Mechanism of Action

“…The effect of the ODSO against intestinal α-glucosidase activity was quantified colorimetrically by monitoring the d -glucose release from sucrose degradation, according to the protocol described by Ouassou et al [ 80 ], with some modifications. The assay mixtures contained 100 μL of sucrose (50 Mm), 1000 μL of phosphate buffer (50 mM; pH = 7.5), and 100 μL of intestinal α-glucosidase enzyme solution (10 IU).…”