Phytochemical and Biological Profile of Moricandia arvensis (L.) DC.: An Inhibitor of Pancreatic Lipase

摘要

Pancreatic lipase, a key enzyme for lipid absorption, is one of the most important targetsfor the treatment of obesity, while natural compounds have recently attracted much interest aspotential inhibitors of this enzyme. Here, in an attempt to find new effective agents, the methanolicextract from Moricandia arvensis (L.) DC. and its sub-extracts were investigated for their potentialinhibitory activity. The ability to inhibit pancreatic lipase was verified through the in vitro evaluationof the prevention of p-nitrophenyl caprylate hydrolysis. The antioxidant activity was also verifiedby means of DPPH and β-carotene bleaching tests. Compositional profiling revealed that flavonoidglycosides were the main specialized metabolites present in the methanolic extract from the aerialparts of the plant with kaempferol and quercetin representing the two O-glycosylated aglycones.Kaempferol-3-O-β-(2”-O-glucosyl)-rutinoside and kaempferol-3-O-a-arabinosyl-7-O-rhamnosidewere the most abundant flavonols. The crude methanolic extract and the dichloromethane andethyl acetate sub-extracts showed a strong lipase inhibitory activity, with IC50 values of 2.06 ± 0.02,1.52 ± 0.02 and 1.31 ± 0.02 mg/mL, respectively. The best capacity to scavenge DPPH radical wasdetected for the ethyl acetate sub-extract (IC50 = 171.9 ± 1.0 μg/mL), which was also effective inprotecting linoleic acid from peroxidation (IC50 = 35.69 ± 2.30 μg/mL). Obtained results supportthe hypothesis that M. arvensis can be a source of bioactive phytochemicals for the pharmacologicalinhibition of dietary lipids absorption.