Modulation of gene expression by traditional Asian antidiabetic nutraceuticals: A review of potential effects

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has emerged as a significant global public health concern. Multiple studies have shown that traditional nutraceuticals are potential to treat T2DM and its complications. This review will explore traditional nutraceuticals with antidiabetic properties with a focus on traditional Asian nutraceuticals and their antioxidant effects on gene expression associated to T2DM.

Literature searching was conducted in Pubmed, Scopus, and Science Direct using the keywords "nutraceutical", "antidiabetic", "insulin resistance", "Diabetes Mellitus", "herbal medicine", "mechanism", "pathway", "traditional food", "functional food", "antioxidant", "clinical", "preclinical", "animal studies", and "Asian" combined with Boolean operators "OR".

Nutraceuticals sourced from traditional Indonesian herbal beverages, including Galohgor, Bir Pletok, and Wedang Uwuh, have shown potential efficacy in reducing hyperglycemia, oxidative stress, and obesity in T2DM. Furthermore, multiple Asian plants and their bioactive compounds, such as curcumin, kaempferol, cinnamon, saponin, quercetin, myricetin, anthocyanin, terpenoid, alkaloid, and gallic acid, have been shown to beneficially influence glucose ho-meostasis, insulin sensitivity, and problems associated with diabetes. Moreover, bioactive compounds of these traditional nutraceuticals have been proven in modulating gene expression associated with β-cell function, insulin signaling pathway, and antioxidant activity, which may offer a new therapeutic target.

This review highlights the increasing scientific evidence on the role of traditional nutraceuticals for the prevention and management of diabetes mellitus, presenting promising alternatives to standard pharmacologi-cal therapy. Nonetheless, double-blind randomized clinical trials are required to validate these antidiabetic effects.