Issue 5, 2019

New flavonoids from the Saudi Arabian plant Retama raetam which stimulates secretion of insulin and inhibits α-glucosidase

Abstract

Retama raetam is a bush which is a member of the family Fabaceae. It is used traditionally in North Africa and Saudi Arabia for the treatment of diabetes. Several flavonoids and alkaloids are already known from this plant. Chromatographic fractionation and purification led to the isolation of three new derivatives of prenylated flavones, retamasin C–E, and four new derivatives of prenylated isoflavones, retamasin F–I, in addition to two isoflavones which have not been previously reported in this plant. Particularly interesting structures included isoflavones containing 3,5-dihydro-2H-2,5-methanobenzo[e][1,4]dioxepine and 3a,8b-dihydro-7-hydroxyfuro[3,2-b]benzo[2,1-d]furan units, both of which are new amongst natural product flavonoids. Five new examples (two flavones and three isoflavones) strongly enhanced the glucose-triggered release of insulin by murine pancreatic islets and one isoflavone was a potent inhibitor of α-glucosidase. This study may rationalise the traditional medicinal use of R. raetam and provide new leads for drug design in the treatment of diabetes.

Graphical abstract: New flavonoids from the Saudi Arabian plant Retama raetam which stimulates secretion of insulin and inhibits α-glucosidase

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 Nov 2018
Accepted
10 Jan 2019
First published
21 Jan 2019

Org. Biomol. Chem., 2019,17, 1266-1276

New flavonoids from the Saudi Arabian plant Retama raetam which stimulates secretion of insulin and inhibits α-glucosidase

M. Nur-e-Alam, M. Yousaf, I. Parveen, R. M. Hafizur, U. Ghani, S. Ahmed, A. Hameed, M. D. Threadgill and A. J. Al-Rehaily, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2019, 17, 1266 DOI: 10.1039/C8OB02755B

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