Diabetes complications, including peripheral neuropathy, cataracts, impaired wound healing, vascular damage, arterial wall stiffening and retinopathy diseases, are among the most predominant health problems facing the world's population today. The 22 Peruvian plant extracts were screened for their potential inhibitory activity against rat lens aldose reductase (RLAR) and DPPH radical scavenging. Among them, we have found that Tanacetum parthenium L. (TP) has the RLAR, AGEs and DPPH radical scavenging activities. We used for screening of active components in TP against RLAR and DPPH for the first time by ultrafiltration (UF) and DPPH. Compounds in TP were isolated by Sephadex column chromatography and their structures were established by MS and NMR spectroscopic analyses. Among the isolated compounds, ferulic acid, apigenin, luteolin-7-O-glucoside, luteolin, chrysosplenol, and kaempferol showed potent inhibition with IC50 values of 1.11-3.20 and 6.44-16.23 μM for RLAR and DPPH radical scavenging. Furthermore, these compounds suppressed sorbitol accumulation in rat lenses and ferulic acid, luteolin-7-O-glucoside, and luteolin have AGEs inhibitory activities with IC50 values of 3.43-6.73 μM. In summary, our study provides interesting plants for further study with respect to the treatment and prevention of diabetic complication of Peruvian plant and can provide the scientific base of the traditional uses.
Keywords: DPPH-HPLC; Tanacetum parthenium (L.) Schultz-Bip; aldose reductase; sorbitol accumulation; ultrafiltration.