Phytochemicals for Diabetes: Natural Plant-Based Therapies
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pharmacology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 320
Special Issue Editors
Interests: diabetes mellitus; traditional antidiabetic medicinal plants; impact of dietary fibre in carbohydrate digestion and absorption in gut, phytoconstituents; insulin; insulin secretion; insulin resistance, obesity; nutrition and metabolic disorders
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: diabetes mellitus; endocrinology and metabolism; adipocytes; peptides; natural products; phytoconstituents; glucose uptake and insulin action; insulin secretion; insulin resistance; obesity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by persistent hyperglycemia, affecting nearly 537 million people globally. This alarming rise translates into severe secondary complications like cardiovascular diseases, neuropathy, and retinopathy, significantly impacting patients' quality of life. Synthetic antidiabetic drugs, while effective, often come with limitations such as adverse side effects, drug resistance, and high costs, particularly hindering accessibility in low-income nations. As a result, research has shifted towards exploring alternative therapies, particularly those derived from traditional medicinal plants.
Despite the growing popularity of herbal medicines for DM management due to their affordability, fewer plant-based therapies have received robust scientific validation. This highlights the crucial need to investigate novel natural compounds with anti-diabetic potential. Medicinal plants hold promise due to their abundance of bioactive metabolites, which offer therapeutic benefits through various mechanisms. These mechanisms include the following:
- Insulin Secretion: Stimulating insulin release via pathways like KATP-dependent or cAMP pathways;
- Glucose Uptake: Facilitating glucose uptake in muscle, fat tissue, and the liver through the PI3K pathway;
- Insulin Sensitivity: Improving insulin sensitivity by inhibiting fat breakdown and production via the AMPK pathway;
- Renal Glucose Reabsorption: Decreasing renal glucose reabsorption via the SGLT-2 inhibitory pathway.
By targeting these pathways, researchers can discover promising antidiabetic therapies from natural sources.
Current research can delve deeper into the roles of specific enzymes that contribute to hyperglycemia. These enzymes break down complex carbohydrates into glucose for absorption and shorten the lifespans of incretin hormones (GLP-1 and GIP). Targeting these enzymes with bioactive metabolites is a novel therapeutic strategy.
The rising cost of synthetic hypoglycemic drugs in developing countries poses a significant barrier to access. This research topic will explore the potential of bioactive metabolites from medicinal plants as a cost-effective approach for managing diabetes and its complications.
We welcome manuscripts investigating the following areas:
- Combination Therapies: Exploring the efficacy of combining multiple medicinal plants, oral supplements, and bioactive metabolites for diabetes treatment;
- Mitigating Hyperglycemia: Evaluating the effectiveness of potential metabolites or combinations for controlling hyperglycemia and its complications;
- Delivery and Targeting: Identifying metabolic pathways and developing strategies to deliver active compounds or combinations to target tissues, maximizing their therapeutic efficacy;
- Mechanisms of Action: Investigating the impact of complex extracts and pure compounds on insulin secretion, β-cell function and regeneration, insulin resistance, glucose uptake, gene expression, and overall glucose metabolism;
- Comparative Studies: Comparing the effectiveness of complex extracts, oral supplements, and pure compounds for managing hyperglycemia;
- Enzyme Inhibition: Assessing the enzyme-inhibitory activity of complex extracts or pure compounds against DPP-IV, α-amylase, α-glucosidase, and disaccharidase enzymes. These enzymes play a role in carbohydrate digestion and absorption and GLP-1/GIP hormone degradation;
- Synergistic Effects: Investigating the potential synergistic effects of combining multiple pure compounds to more effectively regulate glucose homeostasis.
By focusing on these research areas, this Special Issue will contribute significantly to the discovery and development of novel, affordable, and effective anti-diabetic therapies derived from medicinal plants.
Dr. Prawej Ansari
Dr. Yasser Abdel-Wahab
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- diabetes mellitus
- pancreatic beta cells
- insulin, glucose
- obesity
- insulin resistance
- metabolism
- nutrition
- phytoconstituents
- medicinal plants
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