Antin-diabetic cognitive dysfunction effects and underpinning mechanisms of phytogenic bioactive peptides: a review

Xiaoli Liu; Shenglian Mao; Yuxue Yuan; Zilin Wang; Yang Tian; Liang Tao; Jiahe Dai

doi:10.3389/fnut.2024.1517087

Antin-diabetic cognitive dysfunction effects and underpinning mechanisms of phytogenic bioactive peptides: a review

Front Nutr. 2025 Jan 10:11:1517087. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1517087. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Xiaoli Liu^{1

2}, Shenglian Mao^{1

2}, Yuxue Yuan^{1

2}, Zilin Wang^{1

2}, Yang Tian^{1

2

3}, Liang Tao^{1

2}, Jiahe Dai^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ College of Food Science and Technology, Yunan Agricultural University, Kunming, China.
² Engineering Research Center of Development and Utilization of Food and Drug Homologous Resources, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China.
³ Pu'er College, Pu'er, China.

Abstract

Diabetic cognitive dysfunction is one of the important comorbidities and complications of diabetes, which is mainly manifested by loss of learning ability and memory, behavioural disorders, and may even develop into dementia. While traditional anti-diabetic medications are effective in improving cognition and memory, long-term use of these medications can be accompanied by undesirable side effects. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find safe and effective alternative therapies. Accumulating evidence suggests that phytogenic bioactive peptides play an important role in the regulation of cognitive dysfunction in diabetes. In this review, we explored the relationship between diabetes mellitus and cognitive dysfunction, and the potential and underlying mechanisms of plant-derived bioactive peptides to improve diabetic cognitive dysfunction. We found that plant-derived active peptides alleviate diabetic cognitive impairment by inhibiting key enzymes (e.g., α-glucosidase, α-amylase) to improve blood glucose levels and increase antioxidant activity, modulate inflammatory mediators, and address intestinal dysbiosis. In conclusion, plant-derived active peptides show strong potential to improve diabetic cognitive impairment.

Keywords: cognitive function; cognitive improvement; diabetic cognitive dysfunction; diabetic disease; phytogenic bioactive peptides.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The financial support was provided by Yunnan Province agricultural joint special project (202101AK070243); Yunnan Province High-level Science and Technology Talent and Innovation Team Project (202305AS350025); Major science and technology special plan of Yunnan Province (202102AE090027-2).