A Review on Antidiabetic Effect of Tetrahydrocurcumin in Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is possibly the world’s largest growing metabolic disease and as the knowledge on the heterogeneity of this disorder is advanced, the need for more appropriate therapy increases. Currently available drug regimes for management of diabetes mellitus have certain drawbacks and, therefore, there is a need for safer and more effective antidiabetic drugs. Natural products from medicinal plants continue to form a common platform for the discovery of new chemical entities in the modern drug discovery programmes. The belief that natural medicines are much safer than synthetic drugs has gained popularity in recent years and lead to tremendous growth of phytopharmaceutical usage. A wide array of plant derived active principles (phytochemicals) for possible use in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus has been reported. Curcuma longa is commonly used in the treatment of diabetes by ayurvedic physicians. Curcumin is a biologically active component isolated from the rhizome of Curcuma longa that possess antihyperglycemic activity, hypolipidemic action and anti - renal lesion effect. The use of curcumin is recommended for prevention of advanced glycated end products (AGE) accumulation and the associated complications of diabetes. Tetrahydrocurcumin (THC), one of the active metabolites of curcumin on antioxidants status in streptozotocin (STZ) - nicotinamide induced diabetic rats. THC is used in the treatment of several diseases such as prevents cancer, protects against inflammation, atherosclerotic lesions, hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity and diabetes. THC has been reported to exhibit the same physiological and pharmacological properties of curcumin. Curcumin is rapidly metabolized during absorption from the intestine, yielding THC, which has shown the strongest antioxidant activity among all curcuminoids. Curcuma longa has been used medically for many years to treat chronic disorders. The whole plants are used for treating diabetes. Curcumin has been reported to produce significant atihyperglycemic effect. Administration of THC has significant antidiabetic effect in STZ - nicotinamide induced diabetes. The THC exhibited its antidiabetic effect by influencing the carbohydrate metabolism, lipid metabolism, oxidative stress induced lipid peroxidation, membrane bound enzymes, insulin binding to erythrocyte receptor and collagen content and its characteristics. The antidiabetic effect of THC provides sufficient documentation to define its role and action for its potential and promising use in treating diabetes.