Abstract
Thymus serrulatus, an endemic plant of Ethiopia, is traditionally used to cure various diseases and as a food ingredient. In the Ethiopian folk medicine, the decoction is orally taken as a remedy to treat diabetes and high blood pressure. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the antioxidant and antihyperglycemic effects of the aqueous extract and of the essential oil of Thymus serrulatus. The chemical composition of the aqueous extract was determined by LC-MS and the essential oil was characterized by GC-MS analysis. Radical scavenging assays, namely scavenging of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH•), hydroxyl (•OH), and nitric oxide (•NO), were used as a first approach to screen the potential antioxidant abilities of the samples. Alpha-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory studies were also employed to evaluate the in vitro antihyperglycemic potential of the plant. The in vivo blood glucose lowering effect of the extracts was assessed using hypoglycemic activity and the oral glucose tolerance test in normal and in streptozotocin induced diabetic mice. When compared to the aqueous extract, the essential oil showed superior radical scavenging activity, particularly for •NO, as well as greater inhibitory potency against α-amylase and α-glucosidase (IC50 = 0.01 mg/ml and 0.11 mg/ml, respectively). Both tested samples showed a statistically significant antihyperglycemic effect. The aqueous extract at 600 mg/kg exerted maximum antihyperglycemic activity (44.14%), followed by the essential oil (30.82%). Body weight and glucose tolerance parameters were also improved by the samples both in normal and diabetic mice. The findings of this study support the hypothesis that aqueous extract and essential oil of T. serrulatus are promising therapeutic agents.
Highlights
Diabetes mellitus (DM), more called diabetes, is an endocrine disorder caused by a defect in the pancreas that prevents the production of insulin or its inefficient use by the body, resulting in hyperglycemia that, over time, leads to severe health complications (American Diabetes Association, 2009; Toelsie et al, 2013)
The results demonstrated that T. serrulatus was capable of inducing significant antihyperglycemic activities in normoglycemic and STZ induced diabetic mice, as well as of effectively preventing the anticipated body weight loss of the diabetic mice
The overall results suggest that the presence of phenolic constituents in the test samples increased the blood glucose lowering effects of T. serrulatus, further analysis using specific metabolites of these compounds must be tested in order to consolidate such theory
Summary
Diabetes mellitus (DM), more called diabetes, is an endocrine disorder caused by a defect in the pancreas that prevents the production of insulin or its inefficient use by the body, resulting in hyperglycemia that, over time, leads to severe health complications (American Diabetes Association, 2009; Toelsie et al, 2013). The ability of free radicals to damage biomolecules is presently accepted to play a key role in late diabetic complications (Asmat et al, 2016). In this context, antioxidant therapy may be considered as one of the important therapeutic strategies in diabetes management (Johansen et al, 2005). The plant materials being employed as traditional medicines are considered promising sources of new drugs to counteract many diseases, including DM (Doan et al, 2018). Plants offer a source of dietary ingredients that affect human physiological functions in order to treat diabetes (Shori, 2015)
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