In Vitro Antioxidant Potential and Effect of Elephantopus Mollis Kunth. Aqueous Extract on Glycemia Reactivity and Anthropometric Parameters in MACAPOS 2 High-Fat Diet Fed Rats
Main Article Content
Abstract
The nutritional transition in sub-Saharan Africa, marked by increased consumption of energy-dense foods, has contributed to the rising prevalence of type 2 diabetes. Oxidative stress plays a central role in insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. The validation of traditional medicinal plants such as Elephantopus mollis (Asteraceae) may provide alternative therapeutic strategies. Elephantopus mollis is used in Cameroon eastern region folk medicine in the management of diabetes and obesity. This study aimed to evaluate the phytochemical profile, in vitro antioxidant activity, and the effect of E. mollis aqueous extract on glycaemia reactivity and anthropometrics parameters on MACAPOS 2 high-fat diet fed rats. Total phenolic, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids and saponins contents of extract were determined using standard methods. The Antioxidant potential was explored considering 1.1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity, nitric oxide radical inhibiting activity, Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) ability, and total antioxidant capacity of the extract. Thirty-six male Wistar rats were fed a standard or high-fat diet for 30 days and treated concomitantly with once daily oral administration of E. mollis aqueous extract (Em50, 100 and 200 mg/kg b.w.) or metformin (70 mg/kg b.w.). The effect of E. mollis were investigated on, fasting glycaemia, glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, body weight gain, white adipose tissues (visceral, perirenal and peritesticular fats), food and water intakes. In Elephantopus mollis aqueous extract, saponins were the most abundant quantified metabolites (907.5 ± 18.37 µg SE/g), followed respectively by total polyphenols (788.67 ± 11.58 µg GAE/g), flavonoids (189.02 ± 7.96 µg QE/g), alkaloids (108,52 ± 9,75 µg QiE/g) and tannins (5,25 ± 0,18 µg TAE/g). This extract showed strong antioxidant activity by inhibiting nitric oxide, scavenging DPPH free radicals, reducing power. The MACAPOS 2 high-fat diet increased fasting glycemia, induced glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, and fat accumulation. The E. mollis extract decreased fasting glycemia, body weight gain, food and water intake. This extract remarkably (p < 0.01) decreased white adipose tissues associated with a significant improvement of glucose tolerance, and peripheral insulin sensitivity. E. mollis aqueous extract exhibited significant antioxidant potential, decreased fasting glycemia, improved glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity and anthropometric parameters thus justifying its empirical use in the management of diabetes and obesity.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
I. International Diabetes Federation. (2021). IDF Diabetes Atlas 10th ed. Brussels, Belgium: International Diabetes Federation.
II. Banday, MZ., Sameer, AS., Nissar, S. (2020). Pathophysiology of diabetes: An overview. Avicenna Journal of Medicine. 10:174-88.
III. Atun, R., Davies, JI., Gale, EAM., Bärnighausen, T., Beran, D., Kengne, AP., Levitt, NS., Mangugu, FW., Nyirenda, MJ., Ogle, GD., Ramaiya, K., Sewankambo, NK., Mbanya, JC., & Yudkin, JS. (2017). Diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa: from clinical care to health policy. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. 58: 622-667.
IV. Buettner, R., Schölmerich, J., & Bollheimer, L. C. (2007). High-fat diets: Modeling the metabolic disorders of human obesity in rodents. Obesity, 15(4):798-808
V. DeFronzo, RA., Ferrannini, E., Groop, L., Henry, RR., Herman, WH., Holst, JJ., Hu, FB., Kahn, CR., Raz, I., Shulman, GI., Simonson, DC., Testa, MA., & Zinman, B. (2015). Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Nature Reviews Disease Primers. 11: 1-22.
VI. Giacco, F., & Brownlee, M. (2010). Oxidative stress and diabetic complications. Circulation Research. 107(9): 1058-1070.
VII. Eddouks, M., Chattopadhyay, D., De Feo, V., & Cho, WC. (2014). Medicinal plants in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 180981-3p.
VIII. Tsabang, N., Ngah, N., Estella, FT., & Agbor, GA. (2016). Herbal medicine and treatment of diabetes in Africa: Case study in the Cameroon region. Journal of Diabetes & Metabolism. 71: 636-645.
IX. Kamgang, R., Sanders, NM., Nguemby-Binzima, JB., Mbanya, JC., & Oyono-Enguelle, S. (2005). Effects of a high-calorie diet on nutrient intake, body weight, and plasma lipids and glucose in Wistar rats. Diabetes & Metabolism. 315: 459-465.
X. Odebiyi, AO., & Sofowora, EA. (1978). Phytochemical screening of Nigerian medicinal plants II. Lloydia. 413: 234-246.
XI. Aziz-ur-Rehman, KM., Hussain, S., Ahmad, S., Anwar, S., Murtaza, G., & Sheraz, MA. (2011). Phytochemical Analysis and Biological Activities of Artemisia chakwatensis. Journal of Medicinal Plants Research. 526: 6127-6132.
XII. Singleton, VL., & Rossi, JA. (1965). Colorimetry of total phenolics with phosphomolybdic-phosphotungstic acid reagents. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture. 16: 144-158.
XIII. Zhishen, J., Mengcheng, T., & Jianming, W. (1999). The determination of flavonoid contents in mulberry and their scavenging effects on superoxide radicals. Food Chemistry. 644: 555-559.
XIV. Bainbridge, Z., Tomlins, K., Wellings, K., & Westby, A. (1996). Methods for assessing agricultural and food quality indicators. Natural Resources Institute NRI, University of Greenwich. 83: 185-193.
XV. Harborne, JB. (1973). Phytochemical Methods: A Guide to Modern Techniques of Plant Analysis. Chapman and Hall Ltd, London. 1: 186-203.
XVI. Hiai, S., Oura, H., & Nakajima, T. (1976). Colorimetric determination of saponins. Planta Medica. 29(2): 116-122.
XVII. Sanchez-Moreno, C., Larrauri, JA., & Saura-Calixto, F. (1998). A procedure to measure the antiradical efficiency of polyphenols. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 76(2): 270-276.
XVIII. Ebrahimzadeh, MA., Nabavi, SM., Nabavi, SF., Bahramian, F., & Bekhradnia, AR. (2010). Antioxidant and free radical scavenging activity of H. officinalis L. var. angustifolius, V. odorata, B. hyrcana and C. speciosum. Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. 23(1): 29–34.
XIX. Benzie, IF., & Strain, JJ. (1996). The ferric reducing ability of plasma FRAP as a measure of “antioxidant power”: The FRAP assay. Analytical Biochemistry. 239(1): 70–76.
XX. Prieto, P., Pineda, M., & Aguilar, M. (1999). Spectrophotometric quantitation of antioxidant capacity through the formation of a phosphomolybdenum complex: Specific application to the determination of vitamin E. Analytical Biochemistry. 269(2): 337–341.
XXI. Smith, JA., van den Broek, FAR., Martorell, JC., Hackbarth, H., Ruksenas, O., & Zeller, W. (2007). Principles and practice in ethical review of animal experiments across Europe: Summary of the report of a FELASA working group on ethical evaluation of animal experiments. Laboratory Animals. 41(2): 143–160.
XXII. Ngakou Mukam, J., Mvongo, C., Nkoubat, S., & Kamgang, R. (2023). Early-induced diabetic obese rat MACAPOS 2. BMC Endocrine Disorders. 23(64): 1-6.
XXIII. Mvongo, C., Kamgang, R., Keugong Wadou, B., & Oyono-Enguelle, S. (2014). Effects of high-calorie diet on insulin sensitivity and lipid profile in rats. Open Journal of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases. 40(5): 115-125.
XXIV. Kasote, DM., Katyare, SS., Hegde, MV., & Bae, H. (2015). Significance of antioxidant potential of plants and its relevance to therapeutic applications. International Journal of Biological Sciences. 118: 982-991.
XXV. Li, W & Li, X. (2011). Antioxidant activity of durian Durio zibethinus Murr. shell in vitro. Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biological Research AJPBR. 14: 542-551.
XXVI. Floegel, A., Kim, DO., Chung, SJ., Koo, SI., & Chun, OK. (2011). Comparison of ABTS and DPPH assays to measure antioxidant capacity in popular antioxidant-rich US foods. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 24(7): 1043-1048
XXVII. Roberts, CK., & Sindhu, KK. (2009). Oxidative stress and metabolic syndrome. Life Sciences, 8421-22, 705-712.
XXVIII. Shehadeh, MB., Suaifan, GARY., & Abu-Odeh, AM. (2021). Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used by people of Palestine to treat diabetes and the use of secondary metabolites as blood glucose-lowering molecules. Molecules. 26(14): e4333.
XXIX. Mesa, AM., & Rifqi, FS. (2021). The relationship between diabetes mellitus and male infertility. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews. 15(4): e102175.
XXX. Dimitry, MY., Marie, TBA., Josiane, E., Emmanuel, P., Armand, A., & Nicolas, N. (2022). Hypolipemic and antioxidant effects of vegetal milk produced with Mucuna pruriens L. DC. seed in rats fed a high-fat diet. Heliyon. 8(11): e11835.
XXXI. Hanhineva, K., Törrönen, R., Bondia-Pons, I., Pekkinen, J., Kolehmainen, M., Mykkänen, H., & Poutanen, K. (2010). Impact of dietary polyphenols on carbohydrate metabolism. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 11(4): 1365-1402.
XXXII. Steppan, CM., Bailey, ST., Bhat, S., Brown, EJ., Banerjee, RR., Wright, CM., Patel, HR., Ahima, RS., & Lazar, MA. (2001). The hormone resistin links obesity to diabetes. Nature, 409(6818): 307-312.
XXXIII. Zheng, Y., Wang, X., & Li, L. (2024). Natural products as a potential source for the treatment of metabolic syndrome: A systematic review of recent findings and molecular mechanisms. Molecules. 294: 89-2.
XXXIV. Hu, S., Wang, J., Xu, Y., Yang, H., Wang, J., & Li, Z. (2021). Visceral fat reduction contributes to the improvement of glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity. Nutrients, 13(5): 154-2.
XXXV. Cheng, Y., et al. (2023). Bioactive compounds from medicinal plants modulate insulin receptor substrates and downstream signaling pathways in metabolic disorders. Frontiers in Pharmacology. 14 (11): 23-45.
XXXVI. Hyun-Jong, S., Jae-Ha, K., Joo-Hark, Y., & et al. (2012). Polyuria with the concurrent manifestation of central diabetes insipidus (CDI) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). Electrolyte & Blood Pressure. 10(1): 26–30.