Screening of Some Medicinal Plants for their Pancreatic Lipase Inhibitory Potential

Obesity is a main risk factor for cardiovascular, metabolic and endocrine disorders. Despite significant improvements in public education and pharmacologic management in the last two decades, obesity rates have continued to be alarmingly high. The need for a combination of multiple therapy approaches to overcome obesity has become widely accepted by the majority of health care systems and guidelines. The rich potential of nature to combat obesity has not been fully explored yet. Several phytochemicals have been investigated for their potential as lipid lowering agents. We have investigated a total of 23 medicinal plants, belonging to 15 different families and compared their pancreatic lipase inhibitory effects. Inhibition of the pancreatic lipase was chosen as the criteria for therapeutic efficacy since such inhibition would serve two functions. It would provide an adjunctive therapy to the pharmacological agents and would minimize systemic adverse reactions by acting topically in the GI tract. Thirteen plants were found to show in vitro inhibitory activities. The nine most active plants showed an IC50 range of 107.7-342.7 µg/mL. The plants are Anthemis palaestina Boiss., Salvia spinosa L. Ononis natrix L, Fagonia arabica L., Origanum syriaca L. (Syn. Majorana syriaca (L.) Rafin.), Hypericum triquetrifolium Turra, Malva nicaeensis All., Chrysanthemum coronarium L., Paronychia argentea Lam. Further isolation, identification and characterization of phytoactive compounds responsible for anti-lipase action is required to evaluate the full therapeutic potentials of these plants.