Fig. 2. Chemical structures of the α-GL inhibitors acarbose, miglitol and voglibose (right) and the redox-labelled α-GL substrate 4-nitrophenyl-β-glucopyranoside (4-NP-G, left). α-GL acts on the substrate 4-NP-G and converting it into sugar and electroactive 4-NP, which is detected on a boron-doped diamond working electrode by amperometry in the intermittent pulse mode. The concentration of 4-NP detected is directly related to α-glucosidase activity and thus measures the effectiveness of potential inhibitors.
