Flavonoids as Prominent Anti-diabetic Agents

Diabetic mellitus (DM) is one of the major progressive metabolic syndromes and it is estimated that currently 390 million people are suffering from diabetes and more than 592 million people would be affected by the end of 2025 worldwide. In general, DM can be broadly classified into two types: DM type-I can be caused by the lack of insulin levels due to the destruction of pancreatic β-cells in the body, and the other DM type-II can be triggered by insulin resistance. However, this impairment of glucose homeostasis leads to several complications, such as cardiovascular risks, renal disorders, risk of blindness, poor blood drift, and dermatological complications. So far, various types of therapeutic drug agents are available for the treatment of DM, for instance, α-Glucosidase inhibitors, Biguanides, Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, Insulin analogs, GLP-1 agonists, SGLT2 inhibitors, Sulfonyl urease inhibitors and Thiazolidinedione’s, respectively. However, the long-term usage of these drugs was reported to show adverse effects. Therefore, significant attention is required to treat diabetic problems. Moreover, potential drug agents are desirable to treat DM with myriad therapeutic complications. At present, natural products are the prominent alternative and safer medications for the development of modern drug discovery. Although Western medicine is substituted for 80% of traditional medicine, in some countries, people rely on natural herbs as a remedy for the treatment of certain chronic diseases. In this concern, flavonoids are the prevalent group of natural bioactive molecules that have shown interesting biological activities, including antidiabetic properties. Hence, in the stated book chapter, we are intended to emphasize the importance and therapeutic potential of flavonoids as templates for future diabetic therapeutic drugs. Further, in silico studies of few reported flavonoids (rich in the edible source) have been accomplished to establish their molecular interactions with diverse diabetic targets. Therefore, the current chapter serves as a bird’s eye view of anti-diabetic flavonoids for further experimental studies and to develop potent markers of therapeutic agents.

Keywords: Antidiabetic, Blood glucose, Diabetic mellitus, Diabetic molecular targets, Flavonoids, Glucose homeostasis, Natural compounds, Oxidative principles, Polyphenolics, Structural studies.