Bioactive Phytochemicals for Blood Glucose Regulation

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Phytochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2026 | Viewed by 1797

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Departamento de Biología Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
Interests: bioactive metabolites discovery; phytochemicals of secondary metabolites; structure elucidation; ethnopharmacology and pharmacology of natural products; molecular modeling and computational drug discovery; plant-derived therapeutics for diabetes and metabolic disorders

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Guest Editor
Departamento de Química de Biomacromoléculas, Instituto de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
Interests: bioactive metabolites discovery; glycolipids from Convolvulaceae; structure elucidation; enzyme–ligand interactions and affinity-based assays; molecular modeling and computational drug design; diabetes and cancer

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Guest Editor
Departamento de Química de Biomacromoléculas, Instituto de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
Interests: protein structure elucidation and function; marine and terrestrial toxins; protein structures and conformational changes in solution; hypoglycemic, antimicrobial, anticancer, antifungal, and neurotoxic compounds; drug discovery and industrial biotechnology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The rising global incidence of diabetes and related metabolic disorders underscores the urgent need for innovative therapeutic strategies to regulate blood glucose levels. Plants are a rich source of structurally diverse bioactive phytochemicals that have historically provided leads for modern drug development. Compounds such as alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and saponins have demonstrated significant hypoglycemic activity through diverse mechanisms, including modulation of insulin secretion, enhancement of insulin sensitivity, inhibition of carbohydrate-digesting enzymes, and regulation of glucose transporters and signaling pathways.

This Special Issue, “Bioactive Phytochemicals for Blood Glucose Regulation”, focuses on the discovery and development of plant-derived compounds with potential as in the treatment of diabetes. We invite original research and comprehensive reviews addressing the isolation, structural characterization, and mechanistic studies of novel phytochemicals, as well as their preclinical evaluation and optimization for therapeutic use. Topics of interest include bioassay-guided fractionation, structure–activity relationship (SAR) studies, molecular docking and modeling approaches, and advances in translating traditional medicinal knowledge into modern drug discovery pipelines.

By compiling cutting-edge research, this Special Issue aims to advance our understanding of natural products as sources of new drugs and to foster the development of innovative, plant-based strategies for the prevention and treatment of hyperglycemia and diabetes.

Dr. Sonia Escandón-Rivera
Dr. Daniel Rosas-Ramírez
Dr. Roberto Arreguín Espinosa de los Monteros
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • diabetes
  • medicinal plants
  • natural product chemistry
  • phytochemicals
  • traditional medicine
  • ethnopharmacology
  • natural product drug discovery
  • compound isolation
  • structure elucidation

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1135 KB  
Article
Insight into the Hypoglycemic Effects of Pinus nigra Arn. Bark Extracts Through In Silico and In Vivo Analysis
by Nemanja Maletin, Nikola Denda, Maja Milanović, Nataša Milić, Nina Pavkov, Aleksandar Rašković and Milica Paut Kusturica
Plants 2026, 15(3), 462; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15030462 - 2 Feb 2026
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Abstract
Diabetes mellitus is a major global health burden, and plant-derived polyphenols are increasingly explored as adjuncts for metabolic control. Hence, the hypoglycaemic potential of Pinus nigra bark extract from Serbia was evaluated using complementary in silico and in vivo approaches. Major constituents reported [...] Read more.
Diabetes mellitus is a major global health burden, and plant-derived polyphenols are increasingly explored as adjuncts for metabolic control. Hence, the hypoglycaemic potential of Pinus nigra bark extract from Serbia was evaluated using complementary in silico and in vivo approaches. Major constituents reported for P. nigra bark (catechin, epicatechin, taxifolin, caffeic, ferulic, p-coumaric, protocatechuic, and syringic acids) were docked against selected metabolic targets (LXRα, LXRβ, PTP1B, and SUR1) as hypothesis-generating screening due to the frequent PAINS behaviour of small polyphenols. For in vivo assessment, normoglycaemic and alloxan-induced diabetic Wistar rats received a 7-day oral treatment with ethanol bark extract (100 mg/kg) alone or combined with metformin (100 mg/kg) or gliclazide (10 mg/kg), and fasting glycaemia, oral glucose tolerance, lipid profile, and body weight were assessed. The ethanol extract reduced glycaemia, improved glucose tolerance, and favourably modulated dyslipidaemia, with additive effects observed in combinations with metformin or gliclazide. These findings suggest activity relevant to hypoglycaemic-relevant activity of P. nigra bark extract in vivo; however, comprehensive chemical profiling, mechanistic confirmation, and safety evaluation are required before translational consideration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Phytochemicals for Blood Glucose Regulation)
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23 pages, 2070 KB  
Article
Ent–Clerodane Diterpenoid Inhibitors of Glucose-6-phosphatase from Croton guatemalensis Lotsy
by Sonia Marlen Escandón-Rivera, Adolfo Andrade-Cetto, Daniel Genaro Rosas-Ramírez, Gerardo Mata-Torres and Roberto Arreguín-Espinosa
Plants 2026, 15(3), 442; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15030442 - 31 Jan 2026
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Abstract
The Croton genus includes a diverse group of plants with remarkable potential in natural products research, particularly due to their bioactive compounds with hypoglycemic and phytochemical significance. This study examines Croton guatemalensis Lotsy, focusing on its chemical composition and its biological efficacy as [...] Read more.
The Croton genus includes a diverse group of plants with remarkable potential in natural products research, particularly due to their bioactive compounds with hypoglycemic and phytochemical significance. This study examines Croton guatemalensis Lotsy, focusing on its chemical composition and its biological efficacy as a glucose-6-phosphatase inhibitor. Phytochemical analysis led to the isolation and structural elucidation of eleven compounds (111), including three new ent−clerodane diterpenes, designated crotoguatenoic acids C (9), D (10), and E (11). The absolute configurations of compounds 911 were determined by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) as (5R,8R,9R,10S)-configured ent–clerodanes. High-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS/MS) revealed 25 peaks tentatively assigned to terpenoids, flavonoids, and alkaloids, highlighting the species’ chemical diversity. In vitro assays using ethanol–water extract (EWE) and isolated compounds with rat liver microsomes demonstrated inhibitory activity against glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase), particularly among ent–clerodane diterpenes (73–96%), with EWE and compounds 1, 4, and 11 showing the highest inhibition. Molecular docking analysis revealed strong interactions between these diterpenoids and the G6PC1 binding pocket, with binding energies comparable to chlorogenic acid (positive control). These findings position C. guatemalensis as a valuable source of bioactive diterpenoids and support the potential of ent-clerodane derivatives as natural G6Pase inhibitors for hyperglycemia management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Phytochemicals for Blood Glucose Regulation)
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