α-Glucosidase inhibitory activity of cannabidiol, tetrahydrocannabinol and standardized cannabinoid extracts from Cannabis sativa
Two major cannabinoids of cannabis, namely cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) have been reportedly used as alternative medicine for diabetes treatment in both pre-clinical and clinical research. However, their mechanisms of action still remain unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of THC, CBD and the standardized cannabinoid extracts. In addition, the enzyme based in vitro assay on α-glucosidase revealed that THC and CBD exhibited good inhibitory activity, with the IC 50 values of 3.0 ± 0.37 and 5.5 ± 0.28 μg/ml, respectively. Furthermore, two standardized cannabinoid extracts, SCE-I (C. sativa leaf extract) and SCE-II (C. sativa inflorescence extract) exhibited stronger inhibitory activity than THC and CBD, with the IC 50 values of 1.2 ± 0.62 and 0.16 ± 0.01 μg/ml, respectively.