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  • It is important to control hyperglycaemia because it can con

    2022-07-13

    It is important to control hyperglycaemia because it can contribute to serious complications. Hyperglycaemia can be managed by maintaining stable blood glucose levels inside the normal range. This can be achieved by various strategies such as diet, medications and exercise (O’Keefe & Bell, 2007). Several life-style changes and medications have been introduced for managing hyperglycaemia. One of the strategies to manage the disorder is through inhibition of carbolytic enzymes such as α-amylase and α-glucosidase. Inhibiting these enzymes will result in slower TRAM 39 synthesis of sugars during digestion (Mojica, Meyer, Berhow, & de Mejía, 2015). Clinical studies using acarbose and miglitol as α-glucosidase inhibitors showed a reduction in postprandial blood glucose and an increase in insulin sensitivity (Su, Wang, Chen, Wu, & Jin, 2011). These inhibitors act by blocking the α-glucosidase enzyme in the small intestine where breakdown of complex carbohydrates occur. This enzyme reaction reduces carbohydrate hydrolysis and glucose absorption into the bloodstream and thus lowering postprandial blood glucose levels (Ahmad, 2013, Imam, 2013). However, acarbose has side effects such as flatulence and abdominal pain (Rosenstock et al., 1998). Such side effects are caused by the fermentation of undigested carbohydrate by the microbiota in the large intestine (Imam, 2013, Samulitis et al., 1987). Besides acarbose many studies have been carried out to evaluate foods as a means to lower and control high blood glucose levels. The use of low glycaemic index foods in mixed meals (Grant, Wolever, O’Connor, Nisenbaum, & Josse, 2011), food intake with dietary fibre (Kapoor et al., 2016, Lattimer and Haub, 2010), intake of supplements and herbal medicines (Akilen et al., 2012, Najm and Lie, 2010) have been shown to result in reduced blood glucose levels and an improvement in prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Natural sources that contain complex polysaccharides and potential bioactive compounds are also some of the food sources that can help regulate blood sugar and improve insulin sensitivity (Babio et al., 2010, Valls et al., 2010, Wang et al., 2016). It is reported that Salacia species inhibit α-glucosidase and slows the breakdown of carbohydrates into monosaccharides, thus lowering the postprandial blood glucose levels (Heacock et al., 2005, Matsuda et al., 1999). A recent study also reported that plant extracts from Phyllantus species such as P. amarus and P. urinaria which are widely used in Vietnam as traditional medicines for diabetes showed the most promising inhibition of α-glucosidase activity Trinh, Staerk, and Jäger (2016). Their findings provide additional evidences that inhibition of carbohydrate digestive enzymes such as α-glucosidase can be one of the means to control blood glucose levels by delaying the degradation of polysaccharides and starch to glucose (Lebovitz, 1997). Marine algae such as seaweeds used as food sources in Asia, especially in Japan, Korea and China, are also providing similar potential health benefits (Pomin, 2012). The present use of various species of seaweeds as human foods from all parts of the world has seen a growing interest from researchers to study seaweeds as potential functional foods. Seaweeds contain nutrients such as dietary fibre, protein and biologically as well as potentially bioactive compounds like algal polysaccharides, phenolic compounds, carotenoids, and marine fatty acids (Ibanez and Cifuentes, 2013, Lordan et al., 2011, Miyashita et al., 2011, Sharifuddin et al., 2015). With this information, we undertook a study and applied selected edible seaweeds in order to evaluate their potential in inhibiting α-glucosidase activity.
    Experimental
    Results and discussion
    Conclusion The crude extract of brown seaweeds could be a promising source of α-glucosidase activity inhibitor. The present study demonstrated that fucoxanthin from Undaria pinnatifida is the specific compound responsible for the inhibition of α-glucosidase activity. In addition, other brown seaweeds like Laminaria digitata and Sargassum polycystum showed potent inhibitory effect compared to red seaweeds. The investigation provides in vitro evidence for α-glucosidase inhibitors from marine algae and its kinetic pattern that could be used for future animal and human studies. Nevertheless, more studies are needed to discover the ability of other carotenoids to inhibit alpha-glucosidase. Further investigation is also needed to understand if extracts from brown seaweeds could inhibit other carbolytic enzymes.