AccScience Publishing / IMO / Volume 2 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.36922/imo.6010
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

High inhibitory activity of flavonoids from Sophora japonica L. flower buds against α-amylase and α-glucosidase: A mechanistic insight

Jinting Sun1† ,  Ranying Zhang1† ,  Jiayan Xiong1† ,  Jinlin Li1 ,  Chaoyang Zhang1 ,  Yunfeng Ma1,2,3*
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1 Department of Bioengineering, School of Life Sciences, Henan University/Henan Province, China
2 Institute of Microbial Engineering, Laboratory of Bioresource and Applied Microbiology, Henan University/Henan Province, China
3 Engineering Research Center for Applied Microbiology of Henan Province/Henan Province, China
IMO 2025, 2(1), 55–70; https://doi.org/10.36922/imo.6010
Submitted: 15 November 2024 | Revised: 5 December 2024 | Accepted: 13 December 2024 | Published: 30 December 2024
© 2024 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

In this work, a method was developed to screen compounds with enzyme activity inhibition in vitro using chromatographic analysis combined with activity difference analysis (CAADA). The flower buds of Sophora japonica L. (FBSJ) were found to contain abundant flavonoids. These flavonoids were then screened for their high inhibitory activity against α-amylase and α-glucosidase using fingerprint and activity difference analysis. Consistent conclusions were drawn from multiple techniques, including the reported technique, IC50 data, and CAADA. The inhibitory mechanism was further analyzed through enzyme inhibition kinetics, circular dichroism, fluorescence spectrometry, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics (MD). Among the six flavonoid components studied, quercetin was found to act as a competitive inhibitor against α-amylase, while kaempferol showed a mixed manner of inhibition against α-glucosidase. Molecular docking and MD simulations demonstrated that quercetin and kaempferol have higher binding energies and bound more tightly to their targets. In general, flavonols exhibited higher inhibitory activity than their corresponding flavonol glycosides against both α-amylase and α-glucosidase. Quercetin and kaempferol in FBSJ showed potential as inhibitors of α-amylase and α-glucosidase. This study not only presented a novel method for screening compounds with high activity but also provided a theoretical basis for studying the application and mechanism of flavonoids against α-amylase and α-glucosidase in FBSJ.

Keywords
Sophora japonica L.
Flavonoids
α-amylase
α-glucosidase
Funding
This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 32161143021).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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Innovative Medicines & Omics, Electronic ISSN: 3060-8740 Print ISSN: 3060-8910, Published by AccScience Publishing
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