Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Apr 29:12:621536.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2021.621536. eCollection 2021.

Chemical Composition, Antioxidant Potential, and Blood Glucose Lowering Effect of Aqueous Extract and Essential Oil of Thymus Serrulatus Hochst. Ex Benth

Tesfay Haile  1 , Susana M Cardoso  2 , Chirle de Oliveira Raphaelli  3 , Olívia R Pereira  4 , Elisa Dos Santos Pereira  3 , Márcia Vizzotto  5 , Leonardo Nora  3 , Adissu Alemayehu Asfaw  6 , Gomathi Periasamy  1 , Aman Karim  1   7
Affiliations

Chemical Composition, Antioxidant Potential, and Blood Glucose Lowering Effect of Aqueous Extract and Essential Oil of Thymus Serrulatus Hochst. Ex Benth

Tesfay Haile et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Thymus serrulatus, an endemic plant of Ethiopia, is traditionally used to cure various diseases and as a food ingredient. In the Ethiopian folk medicine, the decoction is orally taken as a remedy to treat diabetes and high blood pressure. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the antioxidant and antihyperglycemic effects of the aqueous extract and of the essential oil of Thymus serrulatus. The chemical composition of the aqueous extract was determined by LC-MS and the essential oil was characterized by GC-MS analysis. Radical scavenging assays, namely scavenging of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH•), hydroxyl (•OH), and nitric oxide (•NO), were used as a first approach to screen the potential antioxidant abilities of the samples. Alpha-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory studies were also employed to evaluate the in vitro antihyperglycemic potential of the plant. The in vivo blood glucose lowering effect of the extracts was assessed using hypoglycemic activity and the oral glucose tolerance test in normal and in streptozotocin induced diabetic mice. When compared to the aqueous extract, the essential oil showed superior radical scavenging activity, particularly for •NO, as well as greater inhibitory potency against α-amylase and α-glucosidase (IC50 = 0.01 mg/ml and 0.11 mg/ml, respectively). Both tested samples showed a statistically significant antihyperglycemic effect. The aqueous extract at 600 mg/kg exerted maximum antihyperglycemic activity (44.14%), followed by the essential oil (30.82%). Body weight and glucose tolerance parameters were also improved by the samples both in normal and diabetic mice. The findings of this study support the hypothesis that aqueous extract and essential oil of T. serrulatus are promising therapeutic agents.

Keywords: alpha-amylase; alpha-glucosidase; antihyperglycemic activity; antioxidant activity; essential oil; phenolic compounds profile; thyme-decoction; thymus serrulatus.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
LC-MS Chromatographic profile of T. serrulatus aqueous extract.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
GC-MS chromatographic profile of the essential oil of T. serrulatus.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Effects of the aqueous extract and essential oil on OGTT in normoglycemic mice: change in BGL (mg/dl) at different time intervals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Aazza S., El-Guendouz S., Miguel M. G., Antunes M. D., Faleiro M. L., Correia A. I., et al. (2016). Antioxidant, Anti-inflammatory and Anti-hyperglycaemic Activities of Essential Oils from Thymbra Capitata, Thymus Albicans, Thymus Caespititius, Thymus Carnosus, Thymus Lotocephalus and Thymus Mastichina from Portugal. Nat. Prod. Commun. 11, 1029–1038. 10.1177/1934578X1601100739 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Afonso A. F., Pereira O., Neto R., Silva A., Cardoso S. (2017). Health-promoting Effects of Thymus Herba-barona, Thymus Pseudolanuginosus, and Thymus Caespititius Decoctions. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 18, 1879. 10.3390/ijms18091879 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Afonso A. F., Pereira O. R., Cardoso S. M. (2020). Health-promoting Effects of Thymus Phenolic-Rich Extracts: Antioxidant, Anti-Inflammatory and Antitumoral Properties. Antioxidants. 9, 814. 10.3390/antiox9090814 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Afonso A. F., Pereira O. R., Válega M., Silva A. M. S., Cardoso S. M. (2018). Metabolites and Biological Activities of Thymus Zygis, Thymus Pulegioides, and Thymus Fragrantissimus Grown under Organic Cultivation. Molecules 23, 1–15. 10.3390/molecules23071514 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Al-Hajj N. Q., Algabr M., Sharif H., Aboshora W., Wang H. (2016). In vitro and In Vivo Evaluation of Antidiabetic Activity of Leaf Essential Oil of Pulicaria Inuloides-Asteraceae. J. Food Nutr. Res. 4, 461–470. 10.12691/jfnr-4-7-8 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources