Inhibitory effects of mulberry leaf extract on postprandial hyperglycemia in normal rats

We examined the inhibitory effects of aqueous ethanol extract from mulberry leaves (ME) on postprandial hyperglycemia in normal Wistar rats. ME dose-dependently suppressed the postprandial rise of blood glucose in rats, when ME (0.02-0.5 g/kg) was given 0.5 h before the administration of carbohydrates such as sucrose, maltose and starch. The ME dose showing 50% inhibition of the increment of blood glucose (ED50) was 0.11 g/kg for sucrose, 0.44 g/kg for maltose, and 0.38 g/kg for starch. ME and its basic fraction (MB) containing 1-deoxynojirimycin were assayed for their inhibitory effects (IC50) on disaccharidase derived from the small intestine of rats. The IC50 value of ME was 3.2 microg/mL for sucrase, 10 microg/mL for isomaltase, and 51 microg/mL for maltase. The IC50 value of MB was 0.36 microg/mL for sucrase, 1.1 microg/mL for isomaltase, and 6.2 microg/mL for maltase. The IC50 value of 1-deoxynojirimycin as the principle component in ME was 0.015 microg/mL for sucrase and 0.21 microg/mL for maltase, and this value was comparable to the IC50 of voglibose. The inhibitory activity of ME in a-amylase was weak. These results suggest that ME strongly suppresses postprandial hyperglycemia after carbohydrate loading by inhibiting the activity of disaccharidases in the small intestine of rats.