A Mechanism-Based Comparative Review on Functional Food with Phytomolecules and Marketed Formulation for Type II Diabetes Mellitus

Type II diabetes mellitus is a chronic disorder characterized by pancreatic beta cell dysfunction, insulin resistance, and hyperglycemia. Administration of different classes of anti-diabetic drugs over the long term is essential to maintain normoglycemic levels in affected individuals. This study is focused on natural analogs as substitutes for the most marketed synthetic and semi-synthetic anti-diabetic drugs. This study aimed to review phytoconstituents with their mechanism of action, which are comparatively equivalent to that of the allopathic anti-diabetic marketed drugs, like biguanides, sulphonylurea, and thiazolidinediones. The methodology used for the review involved using the keywords collected from online sites, like PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. At present, different drugs are available for the treatment of diabetes and work with different mechanisms, like metformin induces the AMPK pathway in hepatocytes and muscle fibers with increased glucose uptake in peripheral tissues, whereas the phytoconstituents, like quercetin (flavonoid), mahanimbine, and koenidine (carbazole alkaloids) involve same mechanism as metformin. Sulfonylureas drugs bind to specific receptors in hepatocytes, resulting in glucose-independent insulin release. The phytomolecule amyrins (pentacyclic triterpenoid) and kaempferol (flavonoid) have similar effects as that of sulphonylureas. Thiazoglinediones target adipocytes and cause GLUT-4 translocation and up-regulation of PPAR and adiponectin gene expression. Phytoconstituents, like cyanidin- 3-glucoside (anthocyanin) and protocatechuic acid (tannin), exhibit a similar mechanism of action to that of thiazolidinediones. In this review, it can be concluded that the selected compounds have the same antidiabetic activity as the synthetic drugs. In the future, a new polyherbal formulation can be developed with these selected molecules having the same mechanisms of action, with significant therapeutic value without side effects.