Mechanisms of Action of Flavonoids in the Management of Diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Management of diabetes mellitus is a challenge for clinicians. Uncontrolled hyperglycemia increases the risk of microvascular and macrovascular complications, damaging the body systems.  Although a number of antidiabetic drugs are available for therapeutic intervention, toxicity, loss of efficacy in chronic use and high cost of treatment have necessitated the search for new molecules to manage diabetes. Safety and cost are the main prerequisite for the new antidiabetic molecules. Medicinal plants and their purified phytochemicals have shown promising antidiabetic potential in the past few years. The flavonoids can be widely classified into different categories like anthocyanins, catechins, flavanols, flavones, flavanones etc. Some flavonoids have hypoglycemic properties. They may improve al-tered glucose and oxidative metabolisms of diabetic states. The hypoglycemic effect of some herbal extracts has been confirmed in human and animal models of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Some of the important phytoconstituents from the classes of flavonoid have been discussed here. The current review summarizes the  antidiabetic activity of flavonoids, the mechanism-based action of flavonoids that target the various metabolic pathways in humans. Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Flavonoids, Medicinal plants, mechanisms of action, T2DM