Enhanced enzymatic activity and stability by in situ entrapment of α-Glucosidase within super porous p(HEMA) cryogels during synthesis

Critical Assessment of In Vitro Screening of α-Glucosidase Inhibitors from Plants with Acarbose as a Reference Standard

Postprandial hyperglycemia is treated with the oral antidiabetic drug acarbose, an intestinal α-glucosidase inhibitor. Side effects of acarbose motivated a growing number of screening studies to identify novel α-glucosidase inhibitors derived from plant extracts and other natural sources. As "gold standard", acarbose is frequently included as the reference standard to assess the potency of these candidate α-glucosidase inhibitors, with many outperforming acarbose by several orders of magnitude. The results are subsequently used to identify suitable compounds/products with strong potential for in vivo efficacy. However, most α-glucosidase inhibitor screening studies use enzyme preparations obtained from nonmammalian sources (typically Saccharomyces cerevisiae), despite strong evidence that inhibition data obtained using nonmammalian α-glucosidase may hold limited value in terms of identifying α-glucosidase inhibitors with actual in vivo hypoglycemic potential. The aim was to critically discuss the screening of novel α-glucosidase inhibitors from plant sources, emphasizing inconsistencies and pitfalls, specifically where acarbose was included as the reference standard. An assessment of the available literature emphasized the cruciality of stating the biological source of α-glucosidase in such screening studies to allow for unambiguous and rational interpretation of the data. The review also highlights the lack of a universally adopted screening assay for novel α-glucosidase inhibitors and the commercial availability of a standardized preparation of mammalian α-glucosidase.

Synthesis and Characterization of a New Cryogel Matrix for Covalent Immobilization of Catalase

The advantages of cryogels for enzyme immobilization applications include their mechanical and chemical robustness, ease of production, superior porosity, and low cost. Currently, many researchers are exploring porous material-based systems for enzyme immobilization that are more efficient and economically viable. Here, poly(2-Hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-allyl glycidyl ether) (p(HEMA-co-AGE)) cryogel matrices were synthesized via the free radical cryopolymerization method to be employed as the support material. For the immobilization of the catalase enzyme onto the p(HEMA-co-AGE) cryogel matrix (catalase@p(HEMA-co-AGE), the best possible reaction conditions were determined by altering parameters such as pH, catalase initial concentration, and flow rate. The maximum catalase immobilization amount onto the p(HEMA-co-AGE) cryogel was found to be 48 mg/g cryogel. To determine the advantages of the cryogel matrix, e.g., the stability and reusability of the cryogel matrix, the adsorption–desorption cycles for the catalase enzyme were repeated five times using the same cryogel matrix. At the end of the reusability tests, it was found that the cryogel was very stable and maintained its adsorption capacity with the recovery ratio of 93.8 ± 1.2%. Therefore, the p(HEMA-co-AGE) cryogel matrix affords repeated useability, e.g., up to five times, without decreasing its catalase binding capacities significantly and has promising potential for many industrial applications. Cryogels offer clear distinctive advantages over common materials, e.g., micro/nano particles, hydrogels, films, and composites for these applications. At present, many researchers are working on the design of more effective and economically feasible, porous material-based systems for enzyme immobilization