Abstract
The advancement in the knowledge of potent antioxidants has uncovered the way for greater insight in the treatment of diabetic complications. Lichens are a rich resource of novel bioactive compounds and their antioxidant potential is well documented. Herein we review the antidiabetic potential of lichens which have received considerable attention, in the recent past. We have correlated the antidiabetic and the antioxidant potential of lichen compounds. The study shows a good accordance between antioxidant and antidiabetic activity of lichens and points out the need to look into gathering the scarce and scattered data on biological activities for effective utilization. The review establishes that the lichen extracts, especially of Parmotrema sp. and Ramalina sp. have shown promising potential in both antidiabetic and antioxidant assays. Ubiquitous compounds, namely, zeorin, methylorsellinate, methyl-β-orcinol carboxylate, methyl haematommate, lecanoric acid, salazinic acid, sekikaic acid, usnic acid, gyrophoric acid, and lobaric acid have shown promising potential in both antidiabetic as well as antioxidant assays highlighting their potential for effective treatment of diabetic mellitus and its associated complications. The available compilation of this data provides the future perspectives and highlight the need for further studies of this potent herbal source to harvest more beneficial therapeutic antidiabetic drugs.
Highlights
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an ever increasing global epidemic and one of the most challenging health problems of 21st century
In 2010, more than 285 million people around the world were afflicted with diabetes, and it was estimated that the number of people with diabetes will increase to 439 million by 2030
A number of different approaches have been used, including α-amylase inhibitory [27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34], α-glucosidase [35, 36], and PT1B inhibitory activity [37,38,39,40], antiglycation [41, 42], along with a few in vivo studies to identify the potential of lichens in treating DM [43,44,45]
Summary
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an ever increasing global epidemic and one of the most challenging health problems of 21st century. For certain lichens to be a viable source of antioxidants [9, 10, 24, 25] Their antioxidant potential has been assessed in a number of assays, including, DPPH radical scavenging, reducing power, superoxide anion radical scavenging, nitric oxide radical scavenging, and lipid peroxidation inhibition. A number of different approaches have been used, including α-amylase inhibitory [27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34], α-glucosidase [35, 36], and PT1B inhibitory activity [37,38,39,40], antiglycation [41, 42], along with a few in vivo studies to identify the potential of lichens in treating DM [43,44,45]. We summarize the antidiabetic effect of lichens by referring to recent studies, including those reported by us with the perspective of how their reported radical scavenging activities would influence the relationship (if any) between the antioxidant potential and the antidiabetic activities
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