Therapeutic potential of metals in managing diabetes mellitus: a review

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (DM) represents one of the greatest threats to modern global health. Diabetes mellitus is characterized by chronic elevation of blood glucose concentration as a consequence of decreased blood insulin levels or decreased action of insulin. In order to prevent or delay the onset of such complications, tight control of fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels is a central aspect of diabetes treatment. Development of new therapies that are able to improve glycemia management, cure diabetes, and can even protect from it, are of great interest. Metal compounds proposed to have the potential to elicit beneficial effect in the pathogenesis and complication of the disease. The idea of using metal ions for the treatment of diabetes originates from the report in 1899. Vanadium, chromium, copper, cobalt, tungsten and zinc were found to be effective for treating diabetes in experimental animals. Results from long-term trials are needed in order to assess the safety and beneficial role of these metals as complementary therapies in the management of diabetes. The present review includes the therapeutic potential of some metals showing promising result in the treatment of diabetes.

Proximate composition, mineral content, phytochemical analysis and in vitro antioxidant activities of a wild edible fruit (Grewia sapida Roxb. ex DC.) found in Assam of North-East India

“…Copper is essential for the production of enzyme in the body and plays an important role in biological electron transport [56,57]. Copper deficiency causes reduced energy production, abnormal glucose and cholesterol metabolism, and increased oxidative damage [58]. Copper complexes can act as anticancer, antiulcer, anticonvulsant, and antidiabetic agents [59].…”

“…Manganese is an essential component of metalloenzymes and plays essential role in a number of physiologic processes as a constituent or activator of some enzymes which are essential for the metabolism of carbohydrate, cholesterol and amino acid [58]. Cobalt is an important nutritional trace element having therapeutic value in pharmacological doses.…”

“…Cobalt is an important nutritional trace element having therapeutic value in pharmacological doses. Cobalt has also been established to improve the effects of insulin and its action [58,60].…”

Assessment of Molybdenum Induced Alteration in Oxidative Indices, Biochemical Parameters and Sperm Quality in Testis of Wistar Male Rats

“…Several animal studies have reported that high levels of Mo interfere especially with copper metabolism in animals which in turn results in alteration of normal hematological profile (Kusum et al, 2010;Pandey et al, 2012b). Histopathological examination of testis revealed high proportion of degenerated seminiferous tubules, with marked attenuation of the lining epithelium and diminished spermatogenesis in molybdenum treated sheep (Haywood et al, 2004), bulls (Thomas and Moss, 1951), rats (Pandey and Jain, 2015) and rabbits (Bersenyi et al, 2008).…”

Ascorbic acid and mineral elements composition of powdered antimalarial (Maloff-HB) and haematinic (Haematol-B) herbal formulations from Ogbomoso, Nigeria

“…Many of these herbs have also been acknowledged for their mineral elements and proximate compositions; they have nutritional qualities that could provide the users with additional nutrients (Abolaji et al, 2007). In fact, therapeutic and prophylactic properties of some medicinal plant parts have been attributed to their nutritional value rather than their phytochemical constituents (Akpinar-Bayizit et al, 2012;Pandey et al, 2012).…”