Anti-diabetic activity of quercetin extracted from Phyllanthus emblica L. fruit: In silico and in vivo dapproaches

In this study, molecular interactions of the ligands, quercetin, gallic acid, and metformin with various diabetes mellitus-related protein targets, such as glycogen phosphorylase and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, were assessed. It was revealed that quercetin possesses good binding affinity to both targets. Quercetin is a major constituent of methanolic extracts of Phyllanthus emblica fruit. The antihyperglycemic effect of quercetin in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats was examined. The isolated quercetin administered at a dose of 75 mg/kg body weight produced a maximum decrease of 14.78% in blood glucose levels in the diabetic rats after 7 days of treatment. Furthermore, quercetin doses of 50 and 75 mg/kg were shown to significantly improve the profiles of triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein, very-low-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, and total cholesterol at the end of the study in STZ-induced diabetic rats. The administration of quercetin (25, 50, and 75 mg/kg body weight) daily for 28 days in STZ-induced diabetic rats resulted in a significant decrease in blood glucose and urine sugar levels, with a considerable rise in plasma insulin and hemoglobin levels. Therefore, quercetin is a potential drug with antidiabetic and antihyperglycemic action mediated by changes in the levels of glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides as indicated by in silico and in vivo studies. (C) 2017 Xi'an Jiaotong University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.