Acute toxicity, phenol content, antioxidant and postprandial anti-diabetic activity of Echinops spinosus extracts

Abstract

Echinops spinosus, belonging to Asteraceae family, is used in folk medicine as an abortifacient and diuretic and for blood circulation, diabetes, stomach pain, indigestion and spasmolytic problems. The objective of this work is the study of acute toxicity, the content of phenolic compounds (polyphenols, flavonoids and tannins), antioxidant activity (DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, H2O2 and xanthine oxidase) and antidiabetic (α-amylase, α-glucosidase and lipase) in vitro and ex-vivo by studying the starch tolerance test. The phytochemical assay showed that the ethanolic extract is the richest in polyphenols, flavonoids and tannins with 77.01 mg GEA/g extract; 544.33 mg RE/g extract, and 32.20 mg EC/g extract, respectively. The ethanolic extract showed better antioxidant activity compared to the aqueous extract with (IC50=13±0.25 µg/mL; IC50=75.11±0.34 mg TE/g extract; IC50=51.1±1.2 mg AAE/g extract; IC50=28.2±2.87 µg/mL and 16.83 ± 0.72 µg/mL) in DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, H2O2 and xanthine oxidase. Extracts of E. spinosus have shown a remarkable inhibitory effect α-amylase and interesting inhibitory effect of α-glucosidase and lipase. The aqueous and ethanolic extract also lowered blood sugar levels to 0.96 and 0.93g/L, respectively, after 90 minutes in starch-loaded rats. Acute toxicity results indicate that E. spinosus extracts are non-toxic with an LD50 greater than 2 g/kg in female Swiss mice. Therefore, the antioxidant and antidiabetic activity may be at the origin of the bioactive compounds contained in the plant E. spinosus. However, in vivo studies on the mechanism of action are needed against oxidative stress associated with diabetes.

Bioactivity of Walnut: Investigating the Triterpenoid Saponin Extracts of Juglans regia Kernels for Antioxidant, Anti-diabetic, and Antimicrobial Properties

“…The assessment of α-glucosidase inhibitory activity was carried out following a protocol previously described [59][60][61] . 100 µL of 0.1M sodium phosphate buffer solution (pH = 6.4) that contains the α-glucosidase enzyme solution, was incubated along with 150 µl of each sample at 37°C for 10 min, afterwards, 200 µL of 4-Nitrophenyl-α-d-glucopyranoside (pNPG) 1mM, prepared in the same buffer solution, the mixture was incubated at 37°C for 30min.…”

A Comprehensive Review of the Pharmacological Properties and Bioactive Components of Retama monosperma

“…For many years, plants have been used by humans for medicinal and nutritional purposes in the food industry and other applications [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. In recent decades, they have drawn significant interest and represent a largely untapped source of novel and effective drugs to overcome resistance to the treatment of a wide spectrum of diseases or to be used as alternatives to different organic and non-organic chemical products due to their significant bioactivities [ 9 , 10 ]. In Morocco, medicinal herbs have always been linked to both traditional and cultural practices [ 11 , 12 ].…”