Antidiabetic Phytochemicals and Their Applications in Modern Medicine

Abstract

Being counted as one among the top most four non-communicable diseases (NCD) in the world, diabetes is steadily increasing in incidences over the last quarter century. The change in dietary habits, sedentary lifestyles, stress, and aggravating genetic disposition factors are among the major causes of the disease. Diabetes is classified based on the pathological reasons that finally result in uncontrolled blood sugar. These include the destruction of pancreatic β-cells by autoimmune antibodies, mutational errors in insulin secretion pathway, insulin sensitivity, and drug-induced diabetes. Drugs that are effective in managing diabetes act through the modulation of specific target proteins that help in effective insulin secretion, enhancing sensitivity and reducing secondary complication. Phytochemicals are the treasure of bioactive molecules, having immense potential to prevent and cure most of the disease known till date. Antidiabetic drug molecules derived from plant sources, as well as through chemical synthesis are presently available in the market, and they possess considerable side effects in one way or another. So, molecules that could manage blood sugar better than existing is a hot topic of research. Due to alarming rise in incidence of diabetes, most of key players in drug industry are focussing to widen the range of antidiabetic drugs, identification of new targets and molecules, and combination of drugs. This chapter mainly focuses on the prospects of phytochemicals as hypoglycaemic drug and diabetes management regimen, present scenario, and scope in the modern medicine.