Scopoletin inhibits α-glucosidase in vitro and alleviates postprandial hyperglycemia in mice with diabetes.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether scopoletin could inhibit the activities of the carbohydrate digestive enzymes, α-glucosidase and α-amylase, and reduce postprandial hyperglycemia in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes in mice. Scopoletin showed a distinct inhibitory effect on α-glucosidase and α-amylase. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of scopoletin was 85.12 and 37.36 μM for α-glucosidase and α-amylase, respectively, which were lower values than those for acarbose. The increase in postprandial blood glucose levels was significantly suppressed in the scopoletin group compared to the control group of STZ-induced diabetes in mice. Moreover, the area under the curve significantly decreased with the administration of scopoletin in STZ-induced diabetes in mice. These results showed that scopoletin might help to lower postprandial hyperglycemia through inhibition of carbohydrate digestive enzymes.