Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Nov 4;14(21):4681.
doi: 10.3390/nu14214681.

The Role of Catechins in Regulating Diabetes: An Update Review

Lianghua Wen  1 , Dan Wu  1 , Xindong Tan  1 , Meiqi Zhong  1 , Jiabao Xing  1 , Wei Li  1 , Dan Li  1 , Fanrong Cao  1
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Catechins in Regulating Diabetes: An Update Review

Lianghua Wen et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Catechins are key functional components in tea and have many health benefits, including relieving diabetes. Glucose is necessary for maintaining life. However, when the glucose in the serum exceeds the threshold, it will lead to hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia is mainly caused by insufficient insulin secretion or insulin resistance. Persistent hyperglycemia can cause various disorders, including retinopathy, nephropathy, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. In this paper, we summarize the research on the underlying mechanisms of catechins in regulating diabetes and elaborate on the mechanisms of catechins in alleviating hyperglycemia by improving insulin resistance, alleviating oxidative stress, regulating mitochondrial function, alleviating endoplasmic reticulum stress, producing anti-inflammatory effects, reducing blood sugar source, and regulating intestinal function. This review will provide scientific direction for future research on catechin alleviating diabetes.

Keywords: gut; hyperglycemia; insulin resistance; mitochondrial damage; oxidative stress; tea.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study selection flow adapted from a systematic review by Muhammad Subhan Alfaqih et al. [9].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chemical structures of eight catechin monomers.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Pharmacological properties of catechins.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The pathway by which catechins regulate diabetes: (1) Catechins activate APMK and PI3K, and enhance insulin sensitivity, ultimately promoting uptake of glucose by the cells. (2) Catechins attenuate the inhibitory effect of NFκB on IRS-1 by suppressing the activity of NADPH, redox-sensitive signaling molecules IKK, JKN. (3) Catechins promote glucose-stimulated insulin secretion by increasing mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and ATP production, while increasing mitochondrial biogenesis and reducing mitochondria-associated enzyme-induced apoptosis of β-cells. (4) Catechins reduce ER stress by alleviating UPR, which leads to IRS-1-related decreased insulin sensitivity and β-cell apoptosis. (5) Catechins alleviate IRS-1-related insulin sensitivity reduction caused by inflammation by inhibiting NLRP3 and JNK. (6) Catechins decrease the source of blood glucose by reducing the activities of related enzymes, such as GK, GP, G-6-Pase, PEPCK, α-amylase, and α-glucosidase, and improve the activity of GS in promoting glycogen synthesis. (7) Catechins regulate diabetes by improving the gut barrier, balancing gut microbes, and promoting the secretion of glucose-related gut hormones.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Care. 2013;36((Suppl. 1)):S67–S74. doi: 10.2337/dc13-S067. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bommer C., Sagalova V., Heesemann E., Manne-Goehler J., Atun R., Bärnighausen T., Davies J., Vollmer S. Global Economic Burden of Diabetes in Adults: Projections From 2015 to 2030. Diabetes Care. 2018;41:963–970. doi: 10.2337/dc17-1962. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Anyanwagu U., Mamza J., Mehta R., Donnelly R., Idris I. Cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality with insulin versus glucagon-like peptide-1 analogue in type 2 diabetes. Heart. 2016;102:1581–1587. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2015-309164. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Takahashi M., Ozaki M., Miyashita M., Fukazawa M., Nakaoka T., Wakisaka T., Matsui Y., Hibi M., Osaki N., Shibata S. Effects of timing of acute catechin-rich green tea ingestion on postprandial glucose metabolism in healthy men. J. Nutr. Biochem. 2019;73:108221. doi: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2019.108221. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bone A.J., Hii C.S., Brown D., Smith W., Howell S.L. Assessment of the antidiabetic activity of epicatechin in streptozotocin-diabetic and spontaneously diabetic BB/E rats. Biosci. Rep. 1985;5:215–221. doi: 10.1007/BF01119590. - DOI - PubMed

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the Guangdong Province Special Fund for Modern Agriculture Industry Technology Innovation Teams [Grant Nos. 2022KJ120]. Funders did not have any role in study design, data collection, and data analysis.
-