You have no items in your shopping cart.
Abstract
Traditional plants are reported to have significant antidiabetic properties with little or no side effects in relation to orthodox drugs. Pancreatic lipase is an enzyme that is secreted by the acinar cells of the pancreas and it is responsible for breaking down dietary fats into fatty acids and glycerol. Inhibition of pancreatic lipase can effectively reduce triglyceride absorption, helping to prevent the development of obesity which is associated with various diseases such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes. Protein glycation is a non-enzymatic chemical process in which sugars, such as glucose, bond with proteins, lipids, or nucleic acids to form advanced glycation end products (AGEs). This process occurs in normal physiologic conditions but is increased in diabetic conditions. The accumulation of AGEs causes cumulative metabolic burden (both hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia), inflammation, and oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to analyze the in vitro anti-protein glycation and anti-pancreatic lipase properties of the aqueous extract of Ageratum conyzoides. The result from the experiment for pancreatic lipase inhibition showed that the standard which is Orlistat had a higher percentage inhibition with an IC50 value of 4439.73µg/ml when compared to that of the extract that had an IC50 value of 5462.22µg/ml. However, the result gotten from the in vitro inhibition of protein glycation showed that the extract A. conyzoides had a higher percentage inhibition of 80.96% when compared to the standard (aminoguanidine) 74.93% at a concentration of 100µg/ml. The medicinal properties displayed by the extract in inhibiting pancreatic lipase and protein glycation, suggest that the extract could be considered a good therapeutic agent for the management of various disease conditions like diabetes and obesity.
