investigation of in vitro and in vivo antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of pinus halepensis extracts

Introduction: pinus halepensis is a medicinal plant used in traditional medicine for treatment of various pathologies including diabetes. the objective of this study is to perform a phytochemical study and to evaluate the antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of extracts of the bark of p. halepensis. methods: total polyphenols, flavonoids and tannins were determined by the folin ciocalteu method, aluminum trichloride reagent (alcl3) and vanillin assay. evaluation of the antioxidant activity was carried out using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (dpph) and 2,2’-azinobis- (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (abts) and ferric reducing agent (ferric reducing). the antidiabetic activity was first revealed by enzymatic inhibition tests through measuring the residual activities of α-amylase and α-glucosidase, and then, by oral tolerance tests of glucose and starch in male wistar rats. to verify the safety of plant extracts, acute oral toxicity was determined. results: the phytochemical analysis showed that the extracts of p. halepensis were rich in phenolic compounds. the anti-oxidation activity tests revealed a significant reducing power towards the radicals tested. in addition, p. halepensis inhibited the enzymes involved in diabetes (α-amylase and α-glucosidase) at very low concentrations. these effects were verified in the in vivo approach, in particular by using the starch tolerance test. conclusion: p. halepensis extracts showed remarkable antioxidant and antidiabetic effects. however, further investigations are necessary to identify the main compounds of p. halepensis and to evaluate their antioxidant and antidiabetic effects.