Modulation of Diabetes by Natural Products and Medicinal Plants via Incretins

Abstract

Incretins are metabolic hormones released after a meal that increase insulin secretion from pancreatic β-cells. The two main incretins are the intestinal peptides glucagon-like peptide-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide. Both induce a decrease in glycemia, slow down the absorption of nutrients, and are inactivated by the enzyme dipeptidyl peptidase-4. Recently, incretin-based therapies have become a useful tool to treat diabetic patients, and different studies have focused on the identification of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, including those of natural origin. This review focuses on the new findings of medicinal plants and natural products as possible active agents on the potentiation of incretin receptor signaling. Among these, soluble fiber from species of Plantago and guar gum show promising effects, iridoid derivatives are relevant activators of incretin receptors, and derivatives of cyanidin, especially diglycosylated ones, are an interesting source of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors.

Effects of 22 traditional anti-diabetic medicinal plants on DPP-IV enzyme activity and glucose homeostasis in high-fat fed obese diabetic rats

“…Although considerably less effective than pure preparations of sitagliptin and vildagliptin, these observations suggest that a component of the anti-diabetic actions of these plants may be due to inhibition of DPP-IV. This adds to the results of previous studies which have highlighted gastrointestinal effects of anti-diabetic plants and their ability to enhance insulin secretion and/or action [20][21][22][23]. Based on these in vitro results, the four most active plants were selected from the 22 initially screened for in vivo evaluation of effects on oral glucose tolerance, insulin secretion and plasma DPP-IV activity using high-fat fed rats.…”

Maintaining Effective Beta Cell Function in the Face of Metabolic Syndrome-Associated Glucolipotoxicity—Nutraceutical Options

“…With respect to intestinal GLP-1 production, this can be aided by insuring a good population of the colon with “friendly” bacteria that are capable of generating short-chain fatty acids (as by use of effective probiotics), and by the ingestion of prebiotics or of diets rich in soluble fiber and/or resistant starch that deliver fermentable carbohydrate to the distal intestine and colon [ 128 , 129 , 130 , 131 , 132 ]. Curiously, foods high in insoluble fibers (particularly wheat bran) that neither are fermentable nor influence glycemic index are linked to decreased diabetes risk; this may reflect the fact that such foods tend to be rich in ferulate conjugates that are partially cleaved during digestion, rendering the ferulic acid bioavailable [ 133 , 134 , 135 , 136 , 137 ].…”

Exploring of hypoglycemic mechanism of a Chinese Medicine Xiao-Ke-An based on target dipeptidyl peptidase-4：a molecular docking and molecular dynamics study

“…The less cardioprotective effect of DPP-4 inhibitors and their low risk of causing hypoglycaemia makes them become widely used as second-line agents [5,14,15] . Other excellent natural DPP-4 inhibitors, such as chrysin [16], galangin [17], plectranthoic acid [18], iso-daphnetin [19,20], polyphenols, flavonoids [21] and cyanidin 3,5-diglucoside [22] are now in the pre-clinical phases. In addtion, a variety of other plant-derived compounds including alkaloids, terpenoids, steroids, phenols, peptides, flavonoids, resveratrol, cyanidins and triterpenes have also been reported have activities for DPP-4 [23][24][25].…”