No abstract

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Diabetes is a serious metabolic disease which imposes a heavy burden on the society. It may also bring about a variety of complications if the blood glucose level is not well controlled. Yuye Decoction (YYD) is an ancient herbal medicinal formulation of China and has been widely used in Traditional Chinese medicine to treat patients with diabetes for thousands of years. There are seven medicinal herbs in YYD. Aim of the study:The aim of the present review is to summarize and critically appraise data concerning medicinal plants used in YYD, its main active constituents and signaling pathways mediating its therapeutic effects on diabetes and diabetic complications. Materials and methods:The search of papers published in the period 2009 to 2019 and recorded in PubMed was conducted using specific search terms.Results: After screening, 88 studies were included. Among seven medicinal herbs in YYD formulation, six of them exhibited therapeutic effects on diabetes and its complications through different signaling pathways. Most (55.7%) of the studies were animal studies. Type 2 diabetes was studied in most (37.5%) of the research papers and diabetic nephropathy was the most (19.3%) studied diabetic complication. Focus was placed on Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge. and Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi in the largest number of research papers. Conclusion:YYD exerted a therapeutic effect on diabetes and a preventive effect on diabetic complications.