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REVIEW article

Front. Endocrinol.

Sec. Clinical Diabetes

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1482127

This article is part of the Research TopicNutraceuticals and Medicinal Plants for Preventive Health Care: Integrative Approaches from Ethnopharmacology to Regulatory Science and Applications in Human Health and DiseaseView all 4 articles

Unlocking the Dual Healing Powers of Plant-Based Metallic Nanoparticles: Managing Diabetes and Tackling Male Infertility Challenges

Provisionally accepted
Ayesha  SiddiqaAyesha Siddiqa1Rahmatullah  QureshiRahmatullah Qureshi1*Ghazala  YasmeenGhazala Yasmeen2Shaista  RafiqueShaista Rafique1Noor  Ul Ain ZafarNoor Ul Ain Zafar1Chudary  Sadam HussainChudary Sadam Hussain1Sana  ur RehmanSana ur Rehman3Neelam  NaheedNeelam Naheed1
  • 1Department of Botany, PMAS Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
  • 2Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • 3Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a severe metabolic disorder characterized by an increase in blood glucose level due to insufficient insulin production or failure of insulin action on targeted tissues or both. DM impacts male reproductive health across four aspects: ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, structural alterations in reproductive organs, and alterations in semen quality. The population of male individuals with diabetes is steadily rising, paralleled by an increase in fertility issues among men. A WHO report states that diabetes mellitus affects about 171 million (2.8%) persons worldwide. Anti-diabetic medications that are now on the market are expensive and have several negative effects, including cardiac, hepatic, and renal failure in diabetic patients. Keeping in view, this review emphasizes the limitations of currently used synthetic anti-diabetic drugs and provides the progress in the development of phytogenic metallic NPs (NP)in the treatment of diabetes and associated male infertility. To collect data, various databases were examined, including Springer Link, Google Scholar, PubMed, Wiley Online Library, and Science Direct. Several studies and research reports based on nanotechnological approaches in the formulation of anti-diabetic drugs have pointed out the fact that research in the formulation of nanodrugs has improved strategies for combating diabetes and associated male infertility based on the plausible molecular mechanism of action of the drugs. These nanodrugs have been observed to significantly influence regulatory mechanisms through their effects on pancreatic α-amylase, intestinal αglucosidase, insulin action, and glucose uptake across various in vivo and in vitro systems. Moreover, integrating nanotechnological methodologies with the exploration of herbal compounds further enhances the understanding of their chemical potential. This synergistic approach may pave the way for identifying novel drug candidates with exceptional therapeutic efficacy, offering significant advantages in the management of diabetes and associated male infertility for the betterment of humanity. Furthermore, the personalized design of plant-based metallic NPs has the potential to significantly advance precision medicine techniques for the treatment of male infertility and diabetes

Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus, male infertility, Nanotechnology, anti-diabetic drugs, phyto-nanoparticles

Received: 17 Aug 2024; Accepted: 12 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Siddiqa, Qureshi, Yasmeen, Rafique, Zafar, Hussain, Rehman and Naheed. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Rahmatullah Qureshi, Department of Botany, PMAS Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

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