Chemical Constituents of Ficus drupacea Leaves and Their a-Glucosidase Inhibitory Activities

摘要

α-Glucosidase is a carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzyme for digestion of polysaccharide and oligosaccharide to monosaccharides. Inhibition of the enzyme decreases blood glucose levels by delaying the digestion of the poly- and oligosaccharides to absorbable monosaccharides in the small intestine.Several a-glucosidase inhibitors (AGIs) are available, such as acarbose (Glucobay~R) from Actinoplane sp., voglibose (Basen~R) from Streptomyces hygroscopicus var limoneus and miglitol (Glyset~R) from S. roseochromogenus. Acarbose, when taken as directed, has been shown to effectively reduce the intestinal absorption of sugars in humans. However, it is necessary to take this medication three times daily with meals and of ten leads to non-compliance along with a decrease in the efficacy of the drug. The main drawback of acarbose is its side-effects of abdominal distention, flatulence, meteorism, and diarrhea. Therefore, AGIs from natural sources, such as plants, are more potent and may have fewer side-effects and thus may be useful tool for identifying new sources of treatment for elevated blood glucose evident in diabetes.