Abstract
BackgroundDiabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder which is associated with debilitating complications including eye disease, kidney disorder, and diabetic foot disease. One of the mechanisms implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications is the polyol pathway. This study evaluated the inhibitory effect of aqueous extract of four tropical fruits, namely apple (Malus domestica Borkh.), banana (Musa paradisiaca Linn.), pawpaw (Carica papaya Linn.), and watermelon (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum & Nakai), on the activities of polyol pathway enzymes (aldose reductase and sorbitol dehydrogenase).ResultsAll the fruits, with the exception of banana, displayed stronger inhibition of sorbitol dehydrogenase than aldose reductase which culminated in low IC50 for the inhibition of sorbitol dehydrogenase. Of the fruit extracts tested, pawpaw inhibited both aldose reductase and sorbitol dehydrogenase most effectively with IC50 of 150.78 μg/mL and 46.30 μg/mL, respectively. Lineweaver-Burk plot also revealed that the pawpaw extract inhibited aldose reductase competitively while sorbitol dehydrogenase was inhibited in a mixed non-competitive manner.ConclusionAqueous extract of pawpaw fruit effectively inhibited polyol pathway enzymes, and this may be attributed to rich nutritional and phytochemical composition of the fruit. Consequently, the consumption of pawpaw fruit may contribute to the amelioration of diabetic complications.
Highlights
Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder which is associated with debilitating complications including eye disease, kidney disorder, and diabetic foot disease
Polyol pathway is an alternative pathway for the metabolism of glucose, in which glucose is converted to sorbitol and fructose, with the aid of aldose reductase and sorbitol dehydrogenase, respectively [1]
The concentration of extract or standard that inhibited 50% of aldose reductase activities (IC50) were evaluated using Microsoft Excel (2010)
Summary
Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder which is associated with debilitating complications including eye disease, kidney disorder, and diabetic foot disease. Fruits are important component of diet which contains several nutrients (e.g., minerals and vitamins) and phytochemicals (e.g., polyphenols) that contributes to their pharmacological effects in both healthy and diseased states [7]. They come in various colors and taste which may be a function of the nature of the phytochemicals present in them. This study is aimed at evaluating the inhibitory effect of some fruits on polyol pathway enzymes (aldose reductase and sorbitol dehydrogenase) and their kinetics of inhibition. This will determine the potency of the selected fruits in managing diabetes and its complications
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