Isolation and characterization of α-glucosidase inhibitors from Phyllanthus acidus (L.) Skeels stem bark

In our quest for potential a-glucosidase inhibitors with an objective to develop novel therapeutics for the management and treatment of diabetes and related disorders; three phytoconstituents were isolated from the stem bark of Phyllanthus acidus (L.) Skeels. These compounds were elucidated by both phytochemical and spectroscopic analysis. Of the isolated compounds, one was an aliphatic hydrocarbon, a sterol and a pentacyclic triterpenes. All these phytoconstituents, i.e., n-docosane, p-sitosterol and lupeol although have been reported previously but have been isolated from stem bark of P. acidus for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. Among the isolated compounds, p-sitosterol and lupeol showed considerable a-glucosidase inhibitor activity comparable to that of antidiabetic drug acarbose, and therefore chloroform extract of P. acidus deserve further development as potential new drugs for diabetes.