Title:Treatment Strategies Against Diabetic Foot Ulcer: Success so Far and the Road Ahead
Volume: 17
Issue: 4
Author(s): Ankit Awasthi, Sachin Kumar Singh*, Bimlesh Kumar, Monica Gulati, Rajesh Kumar, Sheetu Wadhwa, Rubiya Khursheed, Leander Corrie, Arya KR, Rajan Kumar, Pooja Patni, Jaskiran Kaur, Sukriti Vishwas and Ankit Yadav
Affiliation:
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lovely Professional University Phagwara, 144411, Punjab,India
Keywords:
Diabetic foot ulcer, type 2 diabetes mellitus, synthetic drugs, herbal drugs, etiopathogenesis, blood sugar level.
Abstract: Background: Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is one of the leading complications of type-2 diabetes
mellitus. It is associated with neuropathy and peripheral arterial disease of the lower limb in
patients with diabetes. There are four stages of wound healing, namely hemostasis phase, inflammatory
phase, proliferative phase and maturation phase. In the case of DFU, all these stages are disturbed
which lead to delay in healing and consequently to lower limb amputation. Conventional
dosage forms like tablets, creams, ointments, gels and capsules have been used for the treatment of
diabetic foot ulcer for many years.
Introduction: In this review, the global prevalence as well as etiopathogenesis related to diabetic
foot ulcer have been discussed. The potential role of various synthetic and herbal drugs, as well as
their conventional dosage forms in the effective management of DFU have been discussed in detail.
Methods: Structured search of bibliographic databases from previously published peer-reviewed research
papers was explored and data has been represented in terms of various approaches that are
used for the treatment of DFU.
Results: About 148 papers, including both research and review articles, were included in this review
to produce a comprehensive as well as a readily understandable article. A series of herbal and
synthetic drugs have been discussed along with their current status of treatment in terms of dose
and mechanism of action.
Conclusion: DFU has become one of the most common complications in patients having diabetes
for more than ten years. Hence, understanding the root cause and its successful treatment is a big
challenge because it depends upon multiple factors such as the judicious selection of drugs as well
as proper control of blood sugar level. Most of the drugs that have been used so far either belong to
the category of antibiotics, antihyperglycaemic or they have been repositioned. In clinical practice,
much focus has been given to dressings that have been used to cover the ulcer. The complete treatment
of DFU is still a farfetched dream to be achieved and it is expected that combination therapy
of herbal and synthetic drugs with multiple treatment pathways could be able to offer better management
of DFU.
