Exploring fluoride's role in diabetes development: A review

Abstract

Purpose

The element fluorine, which is never found in nature in a free state, is the source of the fluoride ion. When fluoride intake is excessive, it can cause various impairments in living organism. This review aims to assess the relationship between fluoride exposure and glucose metabolism, considering positive, negative, and null findings, with a focus on its potential role in insulin resistance and diabetes-related complications.

Methods

Numerous studies that have demonstrated changes in blood glucose and insulin variations due to fluoride are included in our analysis on the bases of their relevance. Twenty significant research papers from Pubmed, Google Scholar, and Research Gate are included up to January 2025 using search terms such as “Fluoride,” “Toxicity,” “Diabetes,” “Insulin resistance,” “fluoride and diabetes,” “fluoride and insulin,” “fluoride and blood glucose” in this review. Of the 20 research papers, 14 involve normal organisms unaffected by diabetes or complications connected to the disease, serving as standard animal models, while 5 involve animals exposed to diabetes and 1 is a human population study.

Results

The findings suggest a negative association between fluoride exposure and diabetes, as studies indicate fluoride’s potential role in impairing glucose homeostasis and increasing insulin resistance. These research studies showed how fluoride affected the participants' blood sugar and diabetes-related complications.

Conclusion

This study highlights how important it is to comprehend how fluoride may contribute to diabetes or diabetes-related complications, and it makes recommendations for future research directions that might lead to the discovery of efficient treatment measures to avoid them.