Abstract

Diabetic dyslipidemia is a key contributor to insulin resistance and a risk factor for cardiovascular complications in patients with DM type 2. Lavandula angustifolia (lavender) is native of the northern region of Jordan and has been long used in Jordanian folkloric medicine in the management of diabetes. To our knowledge, this is the first manuscript to study the potential role of the methanolic extract of the plant in the management of diabetic dyslipidemia. Our results demonstrated in vitro inhibitory effects of L. angustifolia on both hormone sensitive lipase (HSL) and pancreatic lipase (PL) activities. The results indicated that lavender extract inhibited HSL activity in a dose dependent manner with an IC₅₀ of 175.5 µg/ml. Likewise, it inhibited the PL activity in a dose dependent manner with an IC50 of 56.5 µg/ml. Such inhibitory activities could be attributed, but is not exclusive, to the presence of rosmarinic acid (IC₅₀ of 125.2 and 51.5 µg/ml for PL and HSL, respectively) and gallic acid (IC₅₀ of 10.1 and 14.5 µg/ml for PL and HSL, respectively) in the extract. Interestingly, the inhibitory pattern of the lavender on the enzymatic activities of HSL and PL matched the inhibitory pattern of orlistat.

Key words: Lavender, hormone sensitive lipase, pancreatic lipase, obesity, diabetes mellitus, medicinal plants.