Inhibition of Key Enzymes Linked to Obesity and Cytotoxic Activities of Whole Plant Extracts of Vernonia mesplilfolia Less

Jeremiah Oshiomame Unuofin,Gloria Aderonke Otunola,Anthony Jide Afolayan

doi:10.3390/pr7110841

Jeremiah Oshiomame Unuofin, Gloria Aderonke Otunola + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/pr7110841

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Abstract

The whole plant of Vernonia mespilifolia is widely used as a traditional remedy for obesity in South Africa. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-obesity and cytotoxic effects of Vernonia mespilifolia extracts in vitro. The α-amylase, α-glucosidase, and lipase inhibitory activities of aqueous and ethanol extracts of Vernonia mespilifolia were investigated, while the cytotoxic effects of these extracts were analyzed using Hoechst 33342 and propidium iodide (PI) dual staining on a human cervical HeLa cell line. The results showed that the LC50 (the concentration of a material will kill 50% of test organisms) values of aqueous and ethanol extracts of Vernonia mespilifolia were >200 and 149 µg/mL, respectively, to HeLa cells. Additionally, the ethanol extract exhibited the strongest inhibitory effect on the pancreatic lipase (Half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) = 331.16 µg/mL) and on α-amylase (IC50 = 781.72 µg/mL), while the aqueous extract has the strongest α-glucosidase (IC50 = 450.88 µg/mL). Our results suggest that Vernonia mespilifolia’s acclaimed anti-obesity effects could be ascribed to its ability to inhibit both carbohydrate and fat digesting enzymes.

Highlights

Obesity is a multifactorial metabolic disorder that is brought about by western dietary patterns, genetic makeup, lifestyle patterns and a host of environmental factors [1]
The inhibitory effects of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of V. mespilifolia on three digestive enzymes linked with type 2 diabetes and obesity are depicted in Figures 1–3 and Table 1
Our study aimed to evaluate the in vitro inhibitory potential of enzymes associated with obesity, as well as the cytotoxicity potential of the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of V. mespilifolia

Summary

Introduction

Obesity is a multifactorial metabolic disorder that is brought about by western dietary patterns, genetic makeup, lifestyle patterns and a host of environmental factors [1]. The global prevalence of this metabolic disorder has witnessed a twofold increment since 1980 to a level whereby one-third of the world population is regarded as being overweight or obese [2,3]. Obesity has been tagged as a serious public health challenge that is interlinked with a number of other metabolic disorder such as heart-related diseases, diabetes, cancer, arthritis and a host of other complications [4]. The socio-economic burden of this disorder on an individual is one of the contributory factors of the onset of depression [5]. The financial stress that the disorder brings on the individual and the government is enormous. According to the United State government in 2003, 75 billion dollars were expended on the management and treatment of obesity and its comorbidity, and it has been forecasted that this amount will rise by 130% come 2030 [6,7]

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