Abstract

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus is a common medical disorder of pregnancy associated with adverse outcomes for the mother and infant. This disease may result in maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Although therapies are available for the management of diabetes, which includes anti-diabetic drugs and insulin injections, yet continuous use of synthetic drugs provides lower healing with many side effects.

Objective: The continuous search for effective anti-diabetic drugs from a natural source is the main reason behind exploring marine resources for therapeutic and nutritional compounds.

Methods: As major articles of interest in the field of marine flora for gestational diabetes have been found, so this review has been proposed based on relevant information. A description of the studies is included in the review.

Results: Marine bio-resources produce several novel scaffolds, which show their good efficacy and bioavailability in the treatment of gestational diabetes. Thus, marine resources have attracted much interest of the scientific community.

Conclusion: This mini-review article presents some potential scaffolds from different marine sources such as algae, sponges together with their specific activity. Concerning the maternal risk factor, additional study is required.

Keywords: Gestational diabetes, natural product, marine drugs, insulin resistance, bioactive marine anti-diabetic compounds, maternal risk factor.

Graphical Abstract