Cinnamic Acid Derivatives as Antidiabetics Agents

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder of carbohydrate metabolism. Treatment of type II diabetes is usually done by prescribing diet and exercise for the patient however it can also be treated with antidiabetic drugs. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate some cinnamic acid derivative compounds which are either isolated from natural materials or the results of the chemical synthesis. In addition, their biological activities as an agent of α-glucosidase inhibitors have also been evaluated. Chemically, cinnamic acid has three main functional groups: first is the substitution on the phenyl group, second is the additive reaction into the α-β unsaturated, and third is the chemical reaction with carboxylic acid functional groups. Chemical aspects of cinnamic acid derivative compounds have received much attention in the research and development of drugs, especially modifications within three functional groups are very influential. In the last 10 years, a lot of research and development of cinnamic acid derivatives as inhibitors of the α-glucosidase enzyme has been done. One example of the research done in this field is the modification of para position in the structure of cinnamic acid and addition of alkyl groups in the carboxylic group which would increase the activity of the α-glucosidase enzyme therefore the level of inhibition is 100 times higher than that of cinnamic acid compound itself. The novelty of this review article is to focus on the antidiabetic activity of cinnamic acid derivatives.

Keywords

• Diabetes mellitus
• insulin
• hyperglycemia
• cinnamic acid
• derivatives cinnamic acid
• agent α-glucosidase inhibitors