Obesity, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia are key components of metabolic syndrome (MetS), which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Although lifestyle changes are essential, they are often insufficient, leading to increased use of drug therapies. However, concerns over side effects and poor compliance have driven interest in natural products with high biocompatibility and low toxicity. Coastal plants, especially those from island environments, are promising sources of bioactive compounds due to their adaptation to environmental stresses such as salinity, UV exposure, and nutrient scarcity. Among the key enzymatic targets for managing MetS, α-glucosidase is involved in carbohydrate digestion and glucose absorption, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-IV) degrades the incretin hormones glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), which stimulate insulin secretion, and pancreatic lipase facilitates lipid digestion and absorption. Inhibition of these enzymes is considered an effective strategy for controlling blood glucose and body fat accumulation. This study evaluated the in vitro inhibitory activities of 181 plant extracts collected from coastal islands in Korea against α-glucosidase, DPP-IV, and pancreatic lipase. Several extracts demonstrated strong inhibitory effects, with some showing activity levels comparable to or higher than those of existing therapeutic agents. These findings may suggest that plant extracts collected from coastal island, which exhibited biological activities, may be strong inhibitors of α-glucosidase, DPP-IV, and pancreatic lipase and could be valuable for application in replacing synthetic drug.
Lee et al. (Sun,) studied this question.