Avaliação da capacidade antioxidante e antiglicante de plantas medicinais e seu potencial de inibição das enzimas digestivas relacionadas ao diabetes mellitus tipo 2

Abstract

Some medicinal plants are able to providing antioxidant compounds that act against oxidative stress and protein glycation and others that are capable of inhibiting the catalysis of digestive enzymes and thus possibly contributing to the reduction of postprandial hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia. Our objective was to investigate the antioxidant and anti-glycation activities of some medicinal plants and their potential inhibitory against α-amylase, α-glucosidase and pancreatic lipase activities. Based on the ethnobotanical researches carried out by academic studies conducted at the Federal University of Uberlandia, ten plants traditionally used in the treatment of type- 2 diabetes mellitus were selected. Ethanol (ETOH) and hexane (Hex) extracts of specific parts of these plants were used in enzymatic assays to evaluate their inhibitory potential against α-amylase, α-glucosidase and lipase, as well as their antioxidant (DPPH, ORAC and FRAP) and anti-glycation (BSA/fructose model) capacities. The results indicate that ETOH extract of four of the ten analyzed plants exhibited more than 70% of antioxidant and anti-glycation capacities, and α-amylase and lipase inhibitory activities; no extract was able to inhibit more than 40% the α- glucosidase activity. The ETOH extracts of Bauhinia forficata and Syzygium cumini inhibited α-amylase, while the ETOH extracts of B. forficata, Matricaria recutita and Echinodorus grandiflorus inhibited lipase. In addition, the ETOH extracts of B. forficata, S. cumini, M. recutita and E. grandiflorus presented higher antioxidant capacity, respectively. and anti-graft activity. ETOH extracts from four of the ten species popularly cited for treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus showed promising antioxidant and anti-glycating properties as well as ability to inhibit α-amylase and lipase digestive enzymes. The partitions of B. forficata and S. cumini showed prominent results in all trials. Thus, our results open new possibilities for others studies, to evaluate the antidiabetic potential of these medicinal plants.