Chemistry Department, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535, South Africa.
Department of Botany, University of Fort Hare, Private Bag X1314, Alice 5700, South Africa.
Curr Pharm Des. 2020;26(24):2885-2891. doi: 10.2174/1381612826666200331082917.
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is considered one of the most common metabolic disorders with an elevated morbidity and mortality rate. It is characterised by a deficiency in insulin secretion or degradation of secreted insulin. Many internal and external factors, such as oxidative stress, obesity and sedentary lifestyle, among others, have been suggested as the major causes of these cell alterations. Diabetes I and II are the most common types of diabetes. Treatment of type I requires insulin injection, while type II can be managed using different synthetic antidiabetic agents. However, their effectiveness is limited as a result of low bioavailability, high cost of drug production, and unfavourable side effects. There is a great need to develop alternative and more active antidiabetic drugs from natural sources. Different forms of natural products have been used since time immemorial as a source of medicine for the purpose of curing numerous human diseases, including diabetes. Secondary metabolites such as polyphenols, flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids and several other constituents have direct and indirect roles in controlling such diseases; among them, abietane diterpenes have been reported to display a broad spectrum of promising biological activities including diabetes. This review aimed to summarize existing data from SciFinder (2005-2018) on the biological importance of abietane diterpenes in the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes and closely related diseases.
糖尿病（DM）被认为是最常见的代谢紊乱之一，发病率和死亡率都很高。它的特征是胰岛素分泌不足或分泌的胰岛素降解。许多内部和外部因素，如氧化应激、肥胖和久坐不动的生活方式等，被认为是这些细胞改变的主要原因。I 型和 II 型糖尿病是最常见的糖尿病类型。I 型的治疗需要注射胰岛素，而 II 型可以使用不同的合成抗糖尿病药物来治疗。然而，由于生物利用度低、药物生产成本高和不良反应不利，它们的效果有限。因此，从天然来源开发替代的、更有效的抗糖尿病药物非常有必要。自古以来，不同形式的天然产物一直被用作药物的来源，用于治疗包括糖尿病在内的许多人类疾病。多酚、类黄酮、萜类、生物碱和其他几种成分等次生代谢产物在控制这些疾病方面具有直接和间接的作用；其中，枞烷二萜类化合物已被报道具有广泛的有前途的生物活性，包括糖尿病。本综述旨在总结 2005 年至 2018 年 SciFinder 上关于枞烷二萜类化合物在预防和治疗 2 型糖尿病及相关疾病方面的生物学重要性的现有数据。
