DPP-IV, an important target for antidiabetic functional food design

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disease that is characterized by hyperglycemia, which results from the body's ineffective use of insulin (a gradual decline in insulin sensitivity and/or insulin secretion). It has been reported that between 347 and 371 million people worldwide currently have diabetes and that approximately 90∈% have type 2 diabetes mellitus. It is forecasted that the number of diabetes deaths will double between 2005 and 2030, which will make diabetes the seventh leading cause of death in 2030. In the USA, there are now ten different drug classes available to manage hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetic patients. However, not all of the drugs show the same level of safety (particularly cardiovascular safety). One of the most recent treatments for type 2 diabetes mellitus is the use of dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) inhibitors. In addition to regulating postprandial glycemia, these drugs improve several cardiovascular risk factors. Thus, DPP-IV is a very interesting target for finding natural compounds that inhibit it and that can be used as bioactive compounds in functional food that prevents the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. This chapter (a) focuses on the importance of DPP-IV inhibition for type 2 diabetes prevention and treatment, (b) summarizes which natural products are known to inhibit DPP-IV, and (c) suggests how to use drug-discovery tools to improve the search for new DPP-IV inhibitors of natural origin.