Bombax ceiba extract and its metabolites as α-glucosidase inhibitors for diabetes

Abstract

Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors characterize a major class of Type II antidiabetic drugs and play a significant role in lowering postprandial hyperglycemia. Currently, the market offers a limited number of synthetic inhibitors, highlighting the necessity for the discovery of new and potent compounds with enhanced efficacy in this area. For this purpose, an already established library of 51 plant extracts was screened against α-glucosidase, among which Bombax ceiba extract exhibits significant α-glucosidase inhibitory activity (IC50; 1.95 ± 0.29 µg/mL) as compared to acarbose (IC50; 3.14 ± 0.49 µg/mL). Moreover, in order to investigate the specific phytochemicals responsible for this activity, a literature-based library of 78 compounds from B. ceiba were curated and subsequently screened against α-glucosidase using molecular docking. The selection of hit compounds was evaluated on the base of computational tools. Out of these 78 compounds, nine potent compounds (Pelargonin, Simalin B, Linarin, Rutin, Nicotiflorin, Simalin A, Mangiferin, Quercetin and Apigenin) exhibited best binding affinities with α-glucosidase. These phytochemicals exhibited favorable binding energy, hydrogen bonding, and protein–ligand interactions as compared to acarbose. These results were further validated by in vitro α-glucosidase inhibition assay of commercially available phytochemicals. To the best of our knowledge, this report unveils B. ceiba as a highly effective inhibitor of α-glucosidase. The findings suggest that B. ceiba and its metabolites exhibit promising characteristics for the development of leading drugs in the field of anti α-glucosidase medications, which could play a crucial role in the management of diabetes.

Keywords

• Bombax ceiba
• α-glucosidase
• Simalin A
• Simalin B
• Acarbose
• In silico