Abstract
Catalpol isolated from Rehmannia glutinosa is a potent antioxidant and investigated against many disorders. This review appraises the key molecular pathways of catalpol against diabetes mellitus and its complications. Multiple search engines including Google Scholar, PubMed, and Science Direct were used to retrieve publications containing the keywords “Catalpol”, “Type 1 diabetes mellitus”, “Type 2 diabetes mellitus”, and “diabetic complications”. Catalpol promotes IRS-1/PI3K/AKT/GLUT2 activity and suppresses Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and Glucose 6-phosphatase (G6Pase) expression in the liver. Catalpol induces myogenesis by increasing MyoD/MyoG/MHC expression and improves mitochondria function through the AMPK/PGC-1α/PPAR-γ and TFAM signaling in skeletal muscles. Catalpol downregulates the pro-inflammatory markers and upregulates the anti-inflammatory markers in adipose tissues. Catalpol exerts antioxidant properties through increasing superoxide dismutase (sod), catalase (cat), and glutathione peroxidase (gsh-px) activity in the pancreas and liver. Catalpol has been shown to have anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptosis, and anti-fibrosis properties that in turn bring beneficial effects in diabetic complications. Its nephroprotective effect is related to the modulation of the AGE/RAGE/NF-κB and TGF-β/smad2/3 pathways. Catalpol produces a neuroprotective effect by increasing the expression of protein Kinase-C (PKC) and Cav-1. Furthermore, catalpol exhibits a cardioprotective effect through the apelin/APJ and ROS/NF-κB/Neat1 pathway. Catalpol stimulates proliferation and differentiation of osteoblast cells in high glucose condition. Lastly, catalpol shows its potential in preventing neurodegeneration in the retina with NF-κB downregulation. Overall, catalpol exhibits numerous beneficial effects on diabetes mellitus and diabetic complications.
Highlights
According to the International Diabetic Federation (IDF), the global prevalence of diabetes is predicted to be approximately 463 million adults with over 1.1 million of them consisting of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) [1]
The db/db mice displayed a decline in muscle grip strength and skeletal muscle weight, which correlated with the decrease of myoblast determination protein 1 (MyoD), myogenin (MyoG), and myosin heavy chain (MHC) gene expression and the increase of myostatin expression [37]
myocardial dial infarction (MI) caused an increased left ventricular end-systolic dimension (LVESD) and left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVEDD), which was reversed by bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC), and this effect of BMSC was further enhanced by catalpol pretreatment [113]
Summary
According to the International Diabetic Federation (IDF), the global prevalence of diabetes is predicted to be approximately 463 million adults with over 1.1 million of them consisting of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) [1]. 374 million people have a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Diabetes mellitus (DM) is known to cause several complications. Some examples of traditional herbal medicines are Gymnema sylvestre, Nigella sativa, Aloe vera, Camellia sinensis, etc., and they are being used to treat or prevent the development of diabetes mellitus probably due to their strong antioxidant potential [4]. One such herb is Rehmannia glutinosa, which is originated from the northern and central parts of China. This review outlines the molecular and biochemical pathways of catalpol in alleviating DM and its complications
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