Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycaemia, resulting from insulin resistance or relative peripheral insulin deficiency. Hyperglycaemia is associated with inflammatory stress, oxidative stress, and neurodegeneration, which leads to several CNS complications associated with DM. Currently available therapeutics for the management of DM focus on displacing glucose from the blood without affecting the underlying cause of DM or pathological pathways. This study aimed to investigate the antidiabetic potential of herbal molecules and their effect on pathways associated with neurological complications associated with DM. Molecular docking screening of 100 herbal molecules against peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ), insulin receptor (IR), and Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 (DPP4) predicted curcumin, chlorogenic acid, glycyrrhizin, rutin, myricetin, and morin to be the most promising molecules. These molecules were subjected to in vitro screening employing antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, neurodegeneration, and antidiabetic protocols. Our results demonstrated rutin and curcumin to be the most promising molecules as these molecules not only demonstrated good antidiabetic potential in in-silico studies (docking interaction with DM target proteins), but also demonstrated excellent in-vitro antidiabetic activity by inhibiting α-amylase and enhancing 2NBDG uptake. Moreover, these molecules exhibited excellent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective potential, suggesting their potential beneficial effects during DM associate CNS complications. In conclusion, rutin and curcumin could be beneficial in the management of DM and associated neurological complications, however, the results need further validation through in vivo experimentations.
Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Molecular docking, Antioxidant, Curcumin, Rutin.
How to cite this article: Kashyap K, Chauhan V, Mehta V, Rutin and Curcumin as Promising Agents for Diabetes-Associated Neurological Complications: A Molecular Docking and In Vitro Evaluation. Int J Drug Deliv Technol. 2026;16(4s): 698-709; DOI: 10.25258/ijddt.16.4s.82
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Conflict of interest: None