Study on a-glucosidase inhibitory activity of isolated flavones from genus Artocarpus and their enzyme kinetics

Flavonoids are the major compounds associated with diverse bioactivities, especially with a-glucosidase inhibitory activity related to diabetes mellitus. The study reported the a-glucosidase inhibitory activity of seventeen flavonoids isolated from Artocarpus heterophyllus, Artocarpus rigida, and Artocarpus altilis. The results indicated that all flavones possessed an a-glucosidase inhibitory effect, in which compounds 3, 5-7, 9-17 strongly inhibited a-glucosidase enzyme with the IC50 value range from 1.5 to 6.4 mu M. Based on their structure-activity relationships, the prenylation patterns at the flavonoid skeleton gave significantly potent inhibitory abilities against alpha-glucosidase. Further kinetics studies were conducted to determine the inhibition type of these prenylated flavones. This is the first time prenylflavones isolated from genus Artocarpus were reported on the a-glucosidase inhibitory activity and its kinetics. The report suggested that prenylflavones are potential sources for diabetes mellitus treatment.