Anti-hyperglycaemic globulins from selected Cucurbitaceae seeds used as antidiabetic medicinal plants in Africa

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Denis Zofou²  Pascaline Chouadeu Mejiato¹  Bruno Tugnoua Tchinda¹  Thaddée Boudjeko³  Clautilde Mofor Teugwa¹ 

[1] Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Laboratory of Phytobiochemistry and Medicinal Plants Studies, University of Yaoundé I, P.O. Box: 812, Yaoundé, Cameroon;Biotechnology Unit, University of Buea, Buea, South West Region, Cameroon;Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Laboratoire de Phytoprotection et de valorisation des resources végétales, University of Yaoundé I, Biotechnology Centre, Yaounde, Cameroon

关键词: Globulins;    Hypoglycaemic activity;    Cucurbita moschata;    Cucumeropsis mannii;    Lagenaria siceraria;    Citrullus lanatus;    Telfairia occidentalis;    Cucurbitaceae;   

Others  :  1230160
DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6882-13-63

 received in 2012-12-21, accepted in 2013-03-11,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

The recent epidemic of diabetes mellitus (DM) in Africa, coupled with rampant poverty, is an indication of the urgent need to develop new efficacious, cheaper and more available drugs to face this growing public health challenge. A number of plants products among which the protein-rich Cucurbitaceae seeds are commonly used in traditional medicine with increasing acclaimed efficacy against DM. The aim of this study was to analyse and evaluate the hypoglycaemic activity of storage proteins of five species of Cucurbitaceae, which include Telfairia occidentalis, Citrullus lanatus, Lagenaria siceraria, Cucumeropsis mannii and Cucurbita moschata.

Methods

The different families of storage proteins were extracted following differential solubility, and their contents were estimated using the Bradford method. The analysis of these proteins was done by electrophoresis in non-denaturing and denaturing conditions. The evaluation of hypoglycaemic properties of various globulins extracted was performed on male Wistar rats by the oral glucose tolerance test.

Results

The results showed that among the proteins extracted, globulins constitute the most abundant class of storage proteins in all five species selected. Citrullus lanatus and Cucurbita moschata presented the highest levels of globulin (275.34 and 295.11 mg/g dry matter, respectively). The results of electrophoresis showed that all species possess acidic and neutrals albumins and globulins, with molecular weight of protein subunits ranging from 6.36-44.11 kDa for albumins, 6.5-173.86 kDa for globulins and 6.5-49.66 kDa for glutelins. The 6.36 kDa of albumin subunit protein and the 6.5 kDa of globulin subunit protein were present in all the species. The oral glucose tolerance test showed that the globulins of the seeds of all species except Cucumeropsis mannii caused significant drop in blood sugar (88 – 137.80%, compared to the controls, p<0.05).

Conclusions

These findings showed that the selected Cucurbitaceae seeds contained globulins with significant anti-hyperglycaemic activity. It is therefore highly encouraged to pursue investigations towards development of peptide-drugs and/or phytomedicines from these bioactive proteins which could be used as affordable alternative therapy against DM.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Teugwa et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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