Antidiabetic Effect of Cyanidin-3-Glucoside: A Systematic Review of Animal Studies

Despite the effectiveness of conventional antidiabetic agents, limitations still remain, necessitating the use of alternative treatment options in the management of diabetes. Some preliminary studies report the antidiabetic effects of cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G). However, there is a paucity of comprehensive evidence on this.

The objective of this study was to systematically analyze the results of animal studies investigating C3G as an antidiabetic agent.

A comprehensive literature search was conducted across databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, using appropriate keywords and Boolean operators. Articles were screened for eligibility, ensuring that only animal studies reporting diabetes-related outcomes were included.

Of the 6067 articles generated from the database search, 16 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the study. All studies used diabetic mice or rat models. Due to the variability in animal models, intervention protocols, and measured outcomes across the included studies, meta-analysis was not feasible. Across the studies, C3G administration significantly reduced serum glucose concentrations in 14 studies (87.5%) and improved glucose tolerance test in the other 2 studies compared with the untreated diabetic groups. Serum insulin concentrations decreased from ∼25-35 ng/mL to 15-17 ng/mL, and in a few cases increased modestly in insulin-deficient models, reflecting improved sensitivity to insulin. Also, C3G decreased HbA1c by 30 %-40% compared with diabetic controls.

C3G shows considerable promise as an antidiabetic agent as it improved glucose, insulin, and HbA1c concentrations in animal models of diabetes. Given these encouraging findings, there is a need for more robust clinical trials to validate its antidiabetic effect and assess its superiority, inferiority, or otherwise to standard antidiabetic agents. This trial was registered at PROSPERO as CRD420251078672.