Inhibition of glycohydrolase enzymes by aqueous extracts of Chinese medicinal herbs in a microplate format.

A microplate assay, for use with a variety of glycohydrolase enzymes, was developed to aid the screening of Chinese medicinal herb extracts for the presence of potential anti-viral and anti-lymphoma compounds. The microplate assay method described offers greater convenience, speed and reproducibility over existing methods. The enzymes tested were alpha-glucosidase, beta-glucosidase and beta-glucuronidase. The assay can be easily adapted for use with other glycohydrolase enzymes. Of the 12 herb extracts examined four did not inhibit any of the enzymes (< 50% inhibition), one inhibited alpha-glucosidase only (> 50% inhibition), six inhibited beta-glucuronidase only, and one inhibited both alpha-glucosidase and beta-glucuronidase. None of the extracts were capable of inhibiting beta-glucosidase to any significant extent.