Tropical Plant Extracts as Potential Antihyperglycemic Agents 英文参考文献.docVIP

Molecules 2012, 17, 5915-5923; doi:10.3390/moleculeOPEN ACCESS molecules ISSN 1420-3049 /journal/molecules Article Tropical Plant Extracts as Potential Antihyperglycemic Agents Thamilvaani Manaharan 1,*, Uma Devi Palanisamy 2 and Cheng Hwee Ming 1 1 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia 2 School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University, Sunway Campus, Bandar Sunway, Selangor 46150, Malaysia * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: vaanigal@. Received: 7 April 2012; in revised form: 28 April 2012 / Accepted: 30 April 2012 / Published: 18 May 2012 Abstract: Preliminary investigations on 14 plant extracts (obtained by ethanolic and aqueous extraction) identified those having high antioxidant and a significant total phenolic content. Antihyperglycemic, ?-amylase and ?-glucosidase inhibition activities were also observed. A correlation between the antihyperglycemic activity, total phenolic content and antioxidant (DPPH scavenging) activity was established. To further substantiate these findings, the possibility of tannins binding non-specifically to enzymes and thus contributing to the antihyperglycemic activity was also investigated. Our study clearly indicated that the antihyperglycemic activity observed in the plant extracts was indeed not due to non-specific tannin absorption. Keywords: type 2 diabetes mellitus; ?-glucosidase; ?-amylase; antioxidant; total phenolic content 1. Introduction Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from defects in insulin action, insulin secretion or both. The most common type of diabetes mellitus is type 2 diabetes mellitus, which accounts for 85 to 95% of all cases and constitutes a major and growing public health problem [1]. Type 2 diabetes mellitus is generally managed through a stepwise program of intensive therapy that consists of lifestyl