ANTI-DIABETIC POTENTIAL OF NANOPARTICLES SYNTHESIZED FROM SAGE AND MORINGA EXTRACTS

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a major health problem worldwide that is defined as an increase in blood glucose as a consequence of decreased insulin production or insulin resistance. Antidiabetic agents are typically not very effective and have side effects. The present study aims to explore the antidiabetic activity of the green synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from aqueous leaf extracts of Salvia officinalis (sage) and Moringa oleifera through in vitro and in vivo experiments. Sage extract had significantly higher total phenolic content (148.6 mg GAE/g DW) while Moringa had a higher amount of flavonoids (102.8 mg QE/g DW). The spectrophotometric and microscopic techniques were employed successfully for the synthesis and characterization of AgNPs. Both the nanoparticle formulations inhibited the enzyme activities significantly better than the crude extract with IC50 values of 89.4 µg/mL for alpha-amylase inhibition in the case of Sage-AgNPs. In vivo tests conducted on streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats revealed that both AgNPs were able to lower the fasting blood glucose levels, normalize fasting insulin, normalise HbA1c, and improve insulin sensitivity (HOMA-IR). Activities of the antioxidant enzymes were significantly restored and the oxidative stress markers were significantly reduced. Favorable safety profiles were obtained as liver and kidney function parameters came back to near normal levels. Histopathological analysis showed that the pancreatic islet architecture was almost restored in the groups treated with nanoparticles. Overall, these results indicate that the green synthesized silver nanoparticles using sage and moringa extracts exhibit strong antidiabetic activity similar to that of Metformin, which are potential agents for the fabrication of novel natural antidiabetic drugs.