Plant Compounds for the Treatment of Diabetes, a Metabolic Disorder: NF-κB as a Therapeutic Target

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of diabetes in the world population has reached 8.8 % and is expected to rise to 10.4% by 2040. Hence, there is an urgent need for the discovery of drugs against therapeutic targets to sojourn its prevalence. Previous studies proved that NF-κB serves as central agent in the development of diabetic complications. Objectives: This review intended to list the natural plant compounds that would act as inhibitors of NF-κB signalling in different organs under diabetic condition with their possible mechanism of action. Methods: Information on NF-κB, diabetes, natural products and relation in between them was gathered from scientific literature databases such as Pubmed, Medline, Google scholar, Science direct, Springer, Wiley online library. Results and Conclusion: NF-κB plays a crucial role in the development of diabetic complications because of its link in expression of genes that are responsible for organs damage such as kidney, brain, eye, liver, heart, muscle, endothelium, adipose tissue and pancreas by inflammation, apoptosis and oxidative stress. Activation of PPAR-α, SIRT3/1, and FXR through many cascades by plant compounds such as terpenoids, iridoids, flavonoids, alkaloids, phenols, tannins, carbohydrates, and phyto cannabinoids recover the diabetic complications. These compounds also exhibit prevention of NF-κB translocation into nucleus by inhibiting NF-κB activators such as VEGFR, RAGE and TLR4 receptors which in turn prevent the activation of many genes involved in tissue damage. Current knowledge on the treatment of diabetes by targeting NF-κB is limited, so future studies would enlighten accordingly.

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural Alleviates Inflammatory Lung Injury by Inhibiting Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation

“…Inactivation of NF-κB directly leads to decreased production of IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β and other proinflammatory factors, which is capable of relieving LPS-induced ALI ( Dang et al, 2016 ). Several natural compounds present in edible plants and TCM formulations exert anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting the NF-κB signal pathway ( Seo et al, 2018 ; Sahukari et al, 2020 ). Kong et al have reported that 5-HMF inhibited this pathway in RAW264.7 cells.…”

Gut Microbiota: The Potential Key Target of TCM’s Therapeutic Effect of Treating Different Diseases Using the Same Method—UC and T2DM as Examples

“…In individuals with UC, elevated NF-κB levels in the nucleus of colonic tissue promote the release of a series of proinflammatory factors encoded by the NF-κB signaling pathway, aggravate the local inflammatory response and tissue damage, and destroy the integrity of the intestinal barrier ( Lu and Zhao, 2020 ). In the T2DM model, increased NF-κB levels widely exist in the intestine, pancreas, and insulin-target organs ( Zhang et al., 2020 ), and are closely related to chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance, and several complications ( Sahukari et al., 2020 ). In addition, multiple other inflammatory signaling pathways may be involved in these two diseases, such as transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR), among others ( Jurjus et al., 2016 ; Hong et al., 2018 ).…”

Pharmacological Actions, Molecular Mechanisms, Pharmacokinetic Progressions, and Clinical Applications of Hydroxysafflor Yellow A in Antidiabetic Research

“…Signaling pathways of transcription factors, particularly nuclear factor- κ B (NF- κ B) signaling, are involved in insulin sensitivity [ 27 ]. NF- κ B plays a crucial role in the development of diabetic complications because of its involvement in the expression of genes that are responsible for the damage of organs such as the brain, liver, heart, muscles, endothelium, adipose tissue, and pancreas by inflammation, apoptosis, and oxidative stress [ 28 ].…”