Abstract (EN):
Key enzymes implicated in the metabolism of carbohydrates, such as the pancreatic alpha-amylase and the intestinal alpha-glucosidase, are the main targets of drugs designed to avoid and control hyperglycemia in diabetes mellitus. Phlorotannin-targeted extracts from four edible Fucus species, whose composition was previously established by mass spectrometry-based techniques (HPLC-DAD-ESI/MSn and UPLC-ESI-QTOF/MS), were able to inhibit both alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase carbohydrate-metabolizing enzymes, though being more effective towards the latter, with IC50 values significantly lower than those obtained for the pharmacological inhibitors acarbose and miglitol. The extracts also inhibited xanthine oxidase (XO), an enzymatic system usually overexpressed in diabetes and responsible for producing deleterious free radicals, such as superoxide anion radical (O-2(center dot-)). Only Fucus guiryi and Fucus serratus extracts were able to scavenge O-2(center dot-) under the tested concentrations. The biological potential displayed by the extracts was correlated with the total phlorotannin content. This is a pioneer study on the capacity of phlorotannin-targeted extracts from Fucus spp. to inhibit alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase, and XO, with special focus on enzyme kinetics, contributing for the valorization of the selected edible seaweeds and encouraging their incorporation in nutraceuticals and/or pharmaceuticals for glycemic control and to avoid the onset of diabetes-related vascular complications associated to oxidative stress.
Language:
English
Type (Professor's evaluation):
Scientific
No. of pages:
10