Antidiabetic Activity of Ruellia tuberosa L., Role of α-Amylase Inhibitor: In Silico, In Vitro, and In Vivo Approaches

الملخص EN

Ruellia tuberosa L.

is a folk remedy in the treatment of diabetes mellitus.

However, its hypoglycemic activity has not been investigated so far.

In the present study, the antidiabetic mechanism of the n-hexane fraction of methanolic extract (HFME) of this plant was investigated in silico, in vitro, and in vivo.

In silico study was performed using AutoDock4.2 software.

In vitro α-amylase inhibitory activity was investigated by starch-iodine method.

A single dose of 450 mg/kg HFME for 14 days was subjected to an antidiabetic screening in vivo by a multiple low dose streptozotocin (MLD-STZ) induced rats.

Molecular modeling results show that Betulin exhibited noncompetitive α-amylase inhibitory activities.

The effect of HFME elicited significant reductions of diabetic rat blood glucose.

A single dose administration of HFME inhibited α-amylase activity in vivo ( P < 0.01 ) compared to a diabetic control group.

Moreover, this extract strongly inhibited the α-amylase activity in vitro (IC50 0.14 ± 0.005 mg/mL).

It is concluded that HFME exerted an antidiabetic effect via α-amylase inhibitor.

Our findings provide a possible hypoglycemic action of R.

tuberosa L.

as an alternative therapy in the management of diabetes.