Heterocyclic Compounds: Effective α-Amylase and α-Glucosidase Inhibitors

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disease characterized by high blood sugar levels. Recently, it has emerged as an important and global health problem with long-term complications and high economic burden. alpha-Amylase (alpha-Amy) and alpha-glucosidase (alpha-Gls) are two enzymes which are involved in the hydrolysis of starch into sugars and disaccharides leading to the increase of blood glucose level. Hence, inhibition of alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase plays key role in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Heterocyclic compounds -both synthetic and naturally occurring derivatives-possess efficient biological properties. At this juncture, they have demonstrated potent inhibitory activity against alpha-Amy and alpha-Gls and were found to be versatile tools for the development of novel anti-diabetic agents.