A Systematic Review of the Applications of Carbon Dots for the Treatment of Diabetes

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease which is defined by persistent hyperglycemia and long-term complications which include neuropathy, nephropathy, and impaired wound healing. Conventional therapies face limitations like side effects, poor drug bioavailability, and invasive monitoring methods. This systematic review examines the recent studies that have been done for the use and administration of carbon dots (CDs), that are small biocompatible nanomaterials for diabetes treatment and diagnosis. Drawing from in vitro and in vivo studies, we highlight the nitrogen-doped CDs for α-glucosidase inhibition, plant-derived CDs for glucose regulation, sulfur and boron/sulfur-doped CDs for non-enzymatic glucose sensing, nitrogen-doped and metformin-derived CDs for insulin delivery, chiral CDs for amyloid aggregation control, Arg CDs and pristine C₆₀ fullerenes for antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, Zingiberis-based CDs for hepatoprotection, Zn/C-dots and VEGF-loaded nanodots for wound repair and nerve regeneration and glucose-derived CDs for blood-brain barrier penetration. These functionalized systems use heteroatom doping and surface engineering to combine therapeutic and diagnostic potential, protect β-cells, improve medication absorption, and allow non-invasive glucose monitoring. Notably, several nanodots originally developed for unrelated biomedical purposes have also shown properties beneficial for diabetes management, showing opportunities for repurposing, though further validation in diabetic models is required. While CDs show promise as an integrated platform for managing diabetes and its complications, critical challenges remain in achieving scalable, reproducible synthesis, ensuring long-term safety, and optimizing targeted biodistribution. Future work should prioritize standardized production, mechanistic studies and extended preclinical and clinical evaluation to facilitate translation into effective, patient-friendly nanotherapeutics.