Antihypertensive and Antiobesity Activities of Selected Plants from Albay and Sorsogon Philippines

The present study evaluated the antihypertensive and antiobesity activities of twenty-three (23) selected plants from biodiverse sites in Albay and Sorsogon Philippines. In vitro antihypertensive and antiobesity activities of the plant extracts were screened using angiotensin-1 converting enzyme (ACE) and porcine pancreatic lipase (PPL) inhibition assays. The safety of the bioactive extracts was also evaluated using organ-specific toxicity assays. A total of five plants were potent ACE inhibitors ( 70%) at 100 ppm concentration. The IC50 values of the bioactive extracts (50.77 to 67.94 ug/ml) were comparable to the potent drug Captopril (53.35 ug/ml). Seven plants were active against the PPL enzyme at 100 ppm concentration. Three plants exhibited strong PPL inhibitory activity ( 70) with IC50 values of 46.1 to 53.45 ug/ml, less than half the value computed for Orlistat (96.04 ug/ml), indicative of its strong potential as an antiobesity agent. Cytotoxicity results revealed that all the bioactive plant extracts were non-toxic and safe.  The study’s findings are very promising in the search for potential herbal drugs against hypertension and obesity from natural sources in the region.