A review on trends in nano technology – new era in diabetes treatment

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a prevalent metabolic syndrome that is associated with high blood glucose levels. When diet
and exercise fail to control hyperglycemia, patients are forced to start therapy with antidiabetic agents. These
drugs cause several drawbacks that can affect the course of treatment; however, due to the side effects of these
drugs, plant extract and bioactive compounds with antidiabetic properties are gaining as alternative treatment
for diabetes. Natural products are biocompatible, cheaper, and expected to cause few side effects and patient
compliance to therapy is reduced. Over the past few years’, nanotechnology has found in the development of
novel delivery modalities that effectively enhance antidiabetic regimen efficacy. Efforts have been targeted
toward the protection of the drug by encapsulating it into a nanocarrier system and efficiently release the drug
in a gradual as well as controllable manner. These systems have been applied to overcome the limitations and
improve the efficacy of plant-based antidiabetic drugs. The main challenges in the formulations of plant-based
nanocarriers are the loading capacity of the plant extract and the stability of the carriers. A special emphasis is
placed on metallic nanoparticles with their advantages and associated complications being reported to high light
their effectiveness for treating hyperglycemia. The additional inputs of nanotechnological approaches regarding
exploration of herbal potential may lead to certain novel drug molecules and act as an advantage in management
of diabetes for betterment of mankind.