Antihypertensive and Antiobesity Activities of Selected Plants from Albay and Sorsogon Philippines

The present study evaluated the antihypertensive and antiobesity activities of twenty-three (23) selected plants from biodiverse sites in Albay and Sorsogon Philippines. In vitro antihypertensive and antiobesity activities of the plant extracts were screened using angiotensin-1 converting enzyme (ACE) and porcine pancreatic lipase (PPL) inhibition assays. The safety of the bioactive extracts was also evaluated using organ-specific toxicity assays. A total of five plants were potent ACE inhibitors (>70%) at 100 ppm concentration. The IC50 values of the bioactive extracts (50.77 to 67.94 ug/ml) were comparable to the potent drug Captopril (53.35 ug/ml). Seven plants were active against the PPL enzyme at 100 ppm concentration. Three plants exhibited strong PPL inhibitory activity (>70) with IC50 values of 46.1 to 53.45 ug/ml, less than half the value computed for Orlistat (96.04 ug/ml), indicative of its strong potential as an antiobesity agent. Cytotoxicity results revealed that all the bioactive plant extracts were non-toxic and safe.  The study's findings are very promising in the search for potential herbal drugs against hypertension and obesity from natural sources in the region.

Antihypertensive and Antiobesity Activities of Selected Plants from Albay and Sorsogon Philippines Keywords:

ACE activity , Pancreatic lipase , CVDs , Herbal drug