ANTIOXIDANT, ANTIHYPERGLYCEMIC AND ANTIGLYCATION PROPERTIES OF SOME SWERTIA SPECIES FROM WESTERN GHATS Original Article PARTHRAJ KSHIRSAGAR a , TANAJI MORE b , AKALPITA ARVINDEKAR b , NIKHIL GAIKWAD a * a Department of Botany, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 416004, (MS) India, b Received: 24 Jul 2014 Revised and Accepted: 21 Aug 2014 Department of Biochemistry, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 416004, (MS) India. Email: nbgaikwadsuk@gmail.com ABSTRACT Objective: Oxidative stress and Advanced Glycation End-products have been associated with diabetic complications. Therefore, natural compounds or extracts that possess both antioxidant and anti-glycation activities might have great therapeutic potential for treating diabetic complications. Methods: The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the total phenolics, total flavonoids, antioxidant, antihyperglycemic and anti-glycation properties of aqueous extracts of some Swertia species from Western Ghats. Results: The present study revealed that the S. Minor showed the highest amount of total phenolics, total flavonoids and antioxidant activities as compared to other species under study. Swertia angustifolia var. pulchella showed prominent decrease in blood glucose level and the S. lawii distillate showed the highest reduction in fructosamine content with greater anti-glycation property. Conclusion: All the Swertia species distillate analyzed in this study has exhibited potent hypoglycemic activity. Our study tends to support the traditional use of these medicinally important species and alternative source of diabetic medicines. Further study required to analyze the phytochemicals and their mechanism related to antioxidant, antidiabetic and antiglycation properties. Keywords: Swertia, Antioxidant, Antihyperglycemic, Anti-glycation. INTRODUCTION Diabetes mellitus is a systemic metabolic disease characterized by hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, hyper amino acidemia and hypo insulinaemia, it leads to decrease in both insulin secretion and insulin action [1]. It is the most common endocrine disorder world- wide; effects of diabetes mellitus include long-term damage, dysfunction and failure of various organs including kidney, nerves, heart and gastrointestinal tract [2]. Diabetes is associated with oxidative stress, leading to an increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), including the superoxide radical, hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals or reduction of antioxidant defense system [3]. Oxidative stress is found to be increased in patients with diabetes mellitus [4]. Evidence suggests that oxidative cellular injury caused by free radicals contributes to the development of Diabetes [5]. The plants having polyphenols, vitamins, carotenoids, flavonoids and terpenoids play an important role against free radicals [6]. There is huge demand for natural antioxidants in food industry for replacing the synthetic antioxidants. Despite the advancement in the synthetic anti-diabetic drugs, diabetes is still remarkably not cured successfully. Similarly the herbal drugs have gained wider importance worldwide, mostly due to higher safety, less number of adverse effects and consistent blood glucose lowering capacity. Presently, there is growing interest in herbal remedies due to the side effects associated with the oral hypoglycemic agents (therapeutic agent) for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. The use of herbal medicine for the victims of diabetes is encouraged in the developed countries, by the concern about the adverse effects and cost associated with chronic use of synthetic drug [7]. Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are generated in the diabetes as a result of chronic hyperglycemia and enhanced oxidative stress [8-10]. AGEs can accumulate at many sites of the body in diabetes, including the heart and large blood vessels. Because the abundance of AGEs has direct relevance to the pathogenesis of diabetic complications, a clear understanding of the factors contributing to AGE formation may help in ameliorating tissue damage. Advanced glycation end-products and oxidative stress have been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications. Both are known to interact with each other. Therefore, natural compounds or extracts that possess both antioxidant and antiglycation activities might have great therapeutic potential for treating diabetic complications. Swertia L. is ethnomedicinaly important genus of family Gentianaceae. Swertia plants are used widely as traditional medicines in the treatment of diabetes [11, 12]. The major class of compounds among the chemical constituents of this genus have been reported to show significantly hypoglycemic activities [13]. Recent review on species of Swertia showed the hypoglycemic activity such as S. chirayita [16], S. japonica [17] and S. punicea [18]. The Swertia species present in Western Ghats viz. S. densifolia, S. lawii and S. minor is used as adulterant [19, 20] and substitute [21] to S. chirayita. There are several synthetic drugs currently available in market for treatment of diabetes. They suffer from several drawbacks such as beta cell burnout, weight gain and toxicity etc. The major problem with diabetes is that prolonged hyperglycemia leads to establishment of several complications such as nephropathy, neuropathy and retinopathy. This essentially arises from the non specific glycation of protein which brings out structural and functional changes in protein and initiates a cascade of reactions ultimately leading to tissue damage. Hence in the present study five species of Swertia found in the various parts of Western Ghats of India are studied for their total phenolics, total flavonoids, antioxidant, antihyperglycemic and also for glycation inhibition activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS Plant material The plants of Swertia species were collected from different localities of Western Ghats (Table 1). The plant material was authenticated by Prof. S. R. Yadav, Department of Botany, Shivaji University, Kolhapur and voucher specimens of the plants have been deposited in the herbarium of the Department of Botany, Shivaji University, Kolhapur. Preparation of plant extract The plants were cleaned and air-dried at room temperature and ground to a fine powder using a laboratory grinder, passed through a sieve to obtain uniform powder for the analysis. International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences ISSN- 0975-1491 Vol 6, Issue 9, 2014 Innovare Academic Sciences