NATURAL COMPOUNDS THAT INHIBIT PROTEIN GLYCATION: A REVIEW FOR RECENT FINDINGS

Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic, lifelong disease currently impacting people throughout the world. A fundamental cause of Diabetes Mellitus: Non-enzymatic protein glycosylation (glycation) contributes to a group of metabolic diseases, including diabetes-associated late complications, atherosclerosis, chronic renal failure, Alzheimer's disease and inflammatory arthritis. It has been hypothesized that inhibition of glycation may prevent the diseases associated with diabetes. Inhibitors of glycation have been explored for several decades, chiefly using in vitro models, which resulted in discovery of different natural compounds capable of forestalling glycation, such as antioxidants, polysaccharide, metal chelators and peptides. Many peptides released from different proteins have proven to possess physiological functions besides their nutrient roles. Even the results of in vitro studies are not directly applicable on the in vivo situation due to differences in the conditions, mechanism of glycation and bioavailability issues. In this review article, we briefly discuss the mechanism of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in promoting pathogenesis and then present the recent findings concerning the role of plant-based inhibitors and amino acid peptides in decreasing the formations of AGEs. These findings suggest that enrichment of diet with natural, anti-glycating agents may reduce glycation and as a consequence, diabetic complications. Keywords: Glycation, Diabetes, Hyperglycemia, AGEs-inhibitors, Retinopathy.