Antidiabetic Activity and Hepatotoxic Effect of Aqueous Extracts of Struthanthus quercicola Article uri icon

abstract

  • Struthanthus quercicola (Schltdl. %26 Cham.) D.Don, Loranthaceae, is the true Mexican mistletoe has been used by traditional healers for the treatment of diabetes mellitus in the Teenek area from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, regardless of its harvest host tree species. To validate the biological effect of S. quercicola collected from two different host trees, in vitro and in vivo assays were set up. The results demonstrated that S. quercicola decoction exhibited both antihyperglycemic and hypoglycemic activities and demonstrated the capacity of the plant decoction to maintain long-term glucose homeostasis without inducing hepatotoxicity. Rapid ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-photo-diode array analysis showed the presence of vitexin, vitexin-2-O-rhamnoside, quercetin-3-β-d-glucoside, and epi-catechin in the aqueous extracts. These studies provide evidence to support the traditional use of decoctions, and the results obtained from the hepatotoxic analysis suggest a safe use of the plant with a traditional dosage to develop alternative therapies for the treatment of diabetes. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]. © 2022, The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Sociedade Brasileira de Farmacognosia.

publication date

  • 2022-01-01