PHENOLIC COMPOSITION AND IN VITRO INHIBITORY ACTIVITIES OF PLANT-PRODUCING BERRIES AND THEON GENERATION OF ADVANCED GLYCATION END-PRODUCTS: IN VITRO INHIBITION STUDIES

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by chronic hyperglycemia. One of the inevitable consequences of hyperglycemia is the enhanced accumulation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), which are implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetes1. The present study concerns the evaluation of the anti-glycation effect of extracts from plant-producing berries, using in vitro models. Thus, Myrica faya (wax-myrtle),Rubus grandifolius (Madeira blackberry), Vaccinium cylindraceum (Azores blueberry) and Vaccinium padifolium (Madeira blueberry) were incubated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and ribose. After the reaction period (24 h, 37 oC), AGEs formation was determined using a fluorescence method. All tested extracts were found to be more effective than aminoguanidine, a well-known AGEs inhibitor (IC50: 9.91 mg mL-1). V. padifolium (leaves) showed the stronger inhibitory effect (IC50: 0.76 mg mL-1), while M. faya (berries) was the less potent (IC50: 2.97 mg mL-1). However, all extracts were less active than quercetin (IC50: 0.10 mg mL-1). Based on phytochemical characterization, anthocyanins and chlorogenic acids are the main contributors for the resulting data. This study indicates the potential of the studied plants as possible protective agents against long-term diabetic complications caused by glycation of proteins.