Ananya Dechakhamphu
Ubon Ratchathani Rajabhat University, Thailand
Title: Anti-obesity from Thai medicinal plants and traditional herbal recipes
Biography
Biography: Ananya Dechakhamphu
Abstract
Obesity is becoming one of a worldwide epidemic, resulting in a major risk factor for chronic diseases. The prevalence of overweight and obesity is fetching high worldwide. Therefore, prevention and treatment of obesity are become an important factor for a healthy condition. The reduction of nutrient digestion and absorption by developing of enzyme inhibitors without altering major mechanism in gastrointestinal system became the most important strategies in the treatment of obesity. Pancreatic lipase is the key enzyme for dietary fat digestion and absorption. Therefore, inhibition of this enzyme would be in effect to reduce lipid absorption from intestine and lead to a consequence suppress of weight gain. Drug such as orlistat is being used to inhibit this enzyme, however, orlistat has been reported to have adverse effects. Therefore, it is a challenge to find alternative treatment to reduce blood lipid. Bioactive compounds from traditional medicinal plants used to inhibit pancreatic lipase are in our focus. In our study, we have screened for anti-pancreatic lipase of more than 98 Thai medicinal plants and 12 traditional herbal recipes. We found that extracts from 4 herbs and 3 herbal recipes strongly inhibited porcine pancreatic lipase. We have isolated flavonoids, alkaloids and polyphenols from these plants and recipes. The measurement of anti-pancreatic lipase activity was strongly related with the contents of isolated flavonoids, alkaloids and polyphenols. The observations and data gathered from the studies for the extracts of Thai traditional plants undoubtedly suggest that the extracts of these plants could be a potent anti-obesity. To elucidate the bioactive structures, the purification and identification of putative compounds is under investigated.