Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies
Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 1/2016

Open Access 01-07-2016 | Research

In vitro and in vivo α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibiting activities of the protein extracts from two varieties of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.)

Authors: Sundar Poovitha, Madasamy Parani

Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies | Special Issue 1/2016

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

α-amylase and α-glucosidase digest the carbohydrates and increase the postprandial glucose level in diabetic patients. Inhibiting the activity of these two enzymes can control postprandial hyperglycemia, and reduce the risk of developing diabetes. Bitter gourd or balsam pear is one of the important medicinal plants used for controlling postprandial hyperglycemia in diabetes patients. However, there is limited information available on the presence of α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibiting compounds. In the current study, the protein extracts from the fruits of M. charantia var. charantia (MCC) and M. charantia var. muricata (MCM) were tested for α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibiting activities in vitro, and glucose lowering activity after oral administration in vivo.

Results

The protein extract from both MCC and MCM inhibited the activity of α-amylase and α-glucosidase through competitive inhibition, which was on par with Acarbose as indicated by in vitro percentage of inhibition (66 to 69 %) and IC50 (0.26 to 0.29 mg/ml). Both the protein extracts significantly reduced peak blood glucose and area under the curve in Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, which were orally challenged with starch and sucrose.

Conclusions

Protein extracts from the fruits of the two varieties of bitter gourd inhibited α-amylase and α-glucosidase in vitro and lowered the blood glucose level in vivo on par with Acarbose when orally administrated to Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Further studies on mechanism of action and methods of safe and biologically active delivery will help to develop an anti-diabetic oral protein drug from these plants.
Literature
1.
2.
Gin H, Rigalleau V. Post-prandial hyperglycemia. Post-prandial hyperglycemia and diabetes. Diabetes Metab. 2000;4:265–72.
3.
Lordan S, Smyth TJ, Soler-Vila A, Stanton C, Ross RP. The α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory effects of Irish seaweed extracts. Food Chem. 2013;141:2170–6.CrossRefPubMed
4.
5.
Van de Laar FA. α-glucosidase inhibitors in the early treatment of type 2 diabetes. Vasc. Health Risk Manag. 2008;4:1189–95.
6.
Etxeberria U, de la Garza AL, Capion J, Martnez JA, Milagro FI. Antidiabetic effects of natural plant extracts via inhibition of carbohydrate hydrolysis enzymes with emphasis on pancreatic α amylase. Expert Opin Ther Targets. 2012;16:269–97.CrossRefPubMed
7.
8.
Fatmawati S, Shimizu K, Kondo R, Ganoderol B. A potent α-glucosidase inhibitor isolated from the fruiting body of Ganoderma lucidum. Phytomedicine. 2011;18:1053–5.CrossRefPubMed
9.
Konishi K, Watanabe N, Saito M, Nakajima N, Sakaki T, Katayama T, Enomoto T. Isolation of a new phlorotannin, a potent inhibitor of carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzymes, from the brown alga Sargassum patens. J Agr Food Chem. 2012;60:5565–70.CrossRef
10.
Orhan N, Aslan M, Süküroğlu M, Orhan D. In vivo and in vitro antidiabetic effect of Cistus laurifolius L. and detection of major phenolic compounds by UPLC-TOF-MS analysis. J Ethnopharmacol. 2013;146:859–65.CrossRefPubMed
11.
Panwar H, Calderwood D, Grant IR, Grover S, Green BD. Lactobacillus strains isolated from infant faeces possess potent inhibitory activity against intestinal α- and beta-glucosidases suggesting anti-diabetic potential. Eur J Nutr. 2014;53:1465–74.CrossRefPubMed
12.
Ali RB, Atangwho IJ, Kuar N, Ahmad M, Mahmud R, Asmawi MZ. In vitro and in vivo effects of standardized extract and fractions of Phaleria macrocarpa fruits pericarp on lead carbohydrate digesting enzymes. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2013;20:13–39.
13.
Kim KT, Rioux LE, Turgeon SL. α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition is differentially modulated by Fucoidan obtained from Fucus vesiculosus and Ascophyllum nodosum. Phytochem. 2014;98:27–33.CrossRef
14.
Mohamed EAH, Siddiqui MJA, Ang LF, Sadikun A, Chan SH, Tan SC, et al. Potent α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitory activities of standardized 50 % ethanolic extracts and sinensetin from Orthosiphon stamineus Benth as anti-diabetic mechanism. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2012;12:176–82.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
15.
Perez-Gutierrez RM, Damian-Guzman M. Meliacinolin: a potent α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitor isolated from Azadirachta indica leaves and in vivo antidiabetic property in streptozotocin-nicotinamide-induced type 2 diabetes in mice. Biol Pharm Bull. 2012;35:1516–24.CrossRefPubMed
16.
Chatterjee KP. On the Presence of an Antidiabetic principle in Momordica Charantia. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 1963;7:240–4.PubMed
17.
Kar A, Choudhary BK, Bandyopadhyay NG. Comparative evaluation of hypoglycaemic activity of some Indian medicinal plants in alloxan diabetic rats. J Ethnopharmacol. 2003;84:105–8.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Matsuura H, Asakawa C, Kurimoto M, Mizutani J. α-glucosidase inhibitor from the seeds of balsam pear (Momordica charantia) and the fruit bodies of Grifola frondosa. Biosci Biotech Biochem. 2002;66:1576–8.CrossRef
19.
Uebanso T, Arai H, Taketani Y, Fukaya M, Yamamoto H, Mizuno A, et al. Extracts of momordica charantia suppress postprandial hyperglycemia in rats. J Nutr Sci Vitaminology. 2007;53:482–8.CrossRef
20.
Nhiem NX, Kiem PV, Minh CV, Ban NK, Cuong NX, Tung NH, et al. α-glucosidase inhibition properties of cucurbitane-type triterpene glycosides from the fruits of momordica charantia. Chem Pharm Bull. 2010;58:720–4.CrossRefPubMed
21.
Ahmad N, Hassan MR, Halder H, Bennoor KS. Effect of Momordica charantia (Karolla) extracts on fastin7g and postprandial serum glucose levels in NIDDM patients. Bangladesh Med Res Counc Bull. 1999;25:11–3.PubMed
22.
Baldwa VS, Bhandari CM, Pangaria A, Goyal RK. Clinical trial in patients with diabetes mellitus of an insulin-like compound obtained from plant source. Upsala J Med Sci. 1977;82:39–41.CrossRefPubMed
23.
Khanna P, Jain SC, Panagariya A, Dixit VP. Hypoglycemic activity of polypeptide-p from a plant source. J Nat Prod. 1981;44:648–55.CrossRefPubMed
24.
Yibchok-anun S, Adisakwattana S, Yao CY, Sangvanich P, Roengsumran S, Hsu WH. Slow acting protein extract from fruit pulp of Momordica charantia with insulin secretagogue and insulinomimetic activities. Biol Pharm Bull. 2006;29:1126–31.CrossRefPubMed
25.
Kwon Y, Apostolidis E, Shetty K. Inhibitory potential of wine and tea against α-amylase and α-glucosidase for management of hyperglycemia linked to type 2 diabetes. J Food Biochem. 2006;32:15–31.CrossRef
26.
Kim YM, Wang MH, Rhee HI. A novel α-glucosidase inhibitor from pine bark. Carbohydr Res. 2004;339:715–7.CrossRefPubMed
27.
Ali H, Houghton PJ, Soumyanath A. α-amylase inhibitory activity of some Malaysian plants used to treat diabetes; with particular reference to Phyllanthus amarus. J Ethnopharmacol. 2006;107:449–55.CrossRefPubMed
28.
Subramanian R, Asmawi MZ, Sadikun A. In vitro α-glucosidase and α-amylase enzyme inhibitory effects of Andrographis paniculata extract and andrographolide. Acta Biochim Pol. 2008;55:391–8.PubMed
29.
Olubomehin OO, Abo KA, Ajaiyeoba EO. α-amylase inhibitory activity of two Anthocleista species and in vivo rat model anti-diabetic activities of Anthocleista djalonensis extracts and fractions. J Ethnopharmacol. 2013;146:811–4.CrossRefPubMed
30.
Joshi BN, Munot H, Hardikar M, Kulkarni A. Orally active hypoglycemic protein from Costus igneus N. E Br Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2013;436:278–82.CrossRef
31.
Zhang H, Wang J, Liu Y, Sun B. Peptides derived from oats improve insulin sensitivity and lower blood glucose in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice. J Biomed Sci. 2015;4:1–7.
32.
Hamissou M, Smith AC, Carter Jr RE, Triplett II JK. Antioxidative properties of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) and zucchini (Cucurbita pepo). Emir J Food Agric. 2013;25:641–7.CrossRef
Metadata
Title
In vitro and in vivo α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibiting activities of the protein extracts from two varieties of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.)
Authors
Sundar Poovitha
Madasamy Parani
Publication date
01-07-2016
Publisher
BioMed Central
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-016-1085-1