Utility of carbon dots for diabetes treatment and management: A mini review

Diabetes mellitus is among the most prevalent and challenging diseases worldwide. Its global prevalence continues to rise despite considerable advances in therapeutic options and management strategies, highlighting the urgent need for novel therapeutic agents with minimal side effects. Carbon dots (CDs) have emerged as versatile and promising nanomaterials for diabetes treatment and monitoring, owing to their excellent biological, physicochemical, and photophysical properties. This mini-review highlights recent progress in CD research for diabetes, beginning with an overview of their synthesis via top-down and bottom-up methods. It then examines their roles in carbohydrate- and incretin-metabolizing enzyme inhibition, reduction of glucose uptake and reactive oxygen species in vitro, in vivo investigations in rodent models, and modulation of amyloid aggregation. This review further explores the role of CDs in diabetes monitoring, including sensor-based detection of disease-associated volatile organic compounds and lactic acid in blood, breath, and sweat. Additionally, it highlights their potential in drug delivery and in in vitro bioassays screening anti-diabetic drugs or drug candidates. Although the potential of CDs as anti-diabetic agents has been demonstrated, translation to clinical application requires standardized production methods, advanced physicochemical characterization, comprehensive toxicological and pharmacokinetic evaluations, and long-term animal studies in diverse diabetes models. These efforts will be essential for establishing the safety, efficacy, and reliability of CDs as viable therapeutic and diagnostic tools for diabetes management.