Diabetic mellitus (DM) is one of the major progressive metabolic syndromes
and it is estimated that currently 390 million people are suffering from diabetes and
more than 592 million people would be affected by the end of 2025 worldwide. In
general, DM can be broadly classified into two types: DM type-I can be caused by the
lack of insulin levels due to the destruction of pancreatic β-cells in the body, and the
other DM type-II can be triggered by insulin resistance. However, this impairment of
glucose homeostasis leads to several complications, such as cardiovascular risks, renal
disorders, risk of blindness, poor blood drift, and dermatological complications. So far,
various types of therapeutic drug agents are available for the treatment of DM, for
instance, α-Glucosidase inhibitors, Biguanides, Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors,
Insulin analogs, GLP-1 agonists, SGLT2 inhibitors, Sulfonyl urease inhibitors and
Thiazolidinedione’s, respectively. However, the long-term usage of these drugs was
reported to show adverse effects. Therefore, significant attention is required to treat
diabetic problems. Moreover, potential drug agents are desirable to treat DM with
myriad therapeutic complications. At present, natural products are the prominent
alternative and safer medications for the development of modern drug discovery.
Although Western medicine is substituted for 80% of traditional medicine, in some
countries, people rely on natural herbs as a remedy for the treatment of certain chronic
diseases. In this concern, flavonoids are the prevalent group of natural bioactive
molecules that have shown interesting biological activities, including antidiabetic
properties. Hence, in the stated book chapter, we are intended to emphasize the
importance and therapeutic potential of flavonoids as templates for future diabetic
therapeutic drugs. Further, in silico studies of few reported flavonoids (rich in the
edible source) have been accomplished to establish their molecular interactions with
diverse diabetic targets. Therefore, the current chapter serves as a bird’s eye view of
anti-diabetic flavonoids for further experimental studies and to develop potent markers
of therapeutic agents.
Keywords: Antidiabetic, Blood glucose, Diabetic mellitus, Diabetic molecular
targets, Flavonoids, Glucose homeostasis, Natural compounds, Oxidative
principles, Polyphenolics, Structural studies.
