Diabetes mellitus, a metabolic disease mainly characterized by hyperglycemia, is becoming a serious social health problem worldwide with growing prevalence. Many natural compounds have been found to be effective in the prevention and treatment of diabetes, with negligible toxic effects. Ferulic acid (FA), a phenolic compound commonly found in medicinal herbs and the daily diet, was proved to have several pharmacological effects such as antihyperglycemic, antihyperlipidemic and antioxidant actions, which are beneficial to the management of diabetes and its complications. Data from PubMed, EM-BASE, Web of Science and CNKI were searched with the keywords ferulic acid and diabetes mellitus. Finally, 28 articles were identified after literature screening, and the research progress of FA for the management of DM and its complications was summarized in the review, in order to provide references for further research and medical applications of FA.
