REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1651804
This article is part of the Research TopicNatural Bioactives: A Promising Avenue for Metabolic Syndrome TherapyView all articles
Harnessing the Power of Marine Terpenoids against Diabetes-Associated Oxidative Stress
Provisionally accepted
Derren David Christian Homenta Rampengan1Juan Alessandro Jeremis Maruli Nura Lele2Raffaele Romano3*
Nurpudji Astuti Taslim4
Raymond Rubianto Tjandrawinata5
Antonello Santini6*
Fahrul Nurkolis7,8,9*- 1Universitas Sam Ratulangi Fakultas Kedokteran, Manado, Indonesia
- 2Universitas Kristen Indonesia, East Jakarta, Indonesia
- 3Universita degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy
- 4Universitas Hasanuddin, Makassar, Indonesia
- 5Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya, South Jakarta, Indonesia
- 6Universita degli Studi di Napoli Federico II Dipartimento di Farmacia, Naples, Italy
- 7Medical Research Center of Indonesia, Surabaya, Indonesia
- 8Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
- 9Universitas Airlangga Fakultas Kedokteran, Surabaya, Indonesia
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Diabetes mellitus (DM), particularly type 2 diabetes (T2DM), remains a significant global health concern, driven largely by oxidative stress-induced damage. Marine terpenoids, bioactive compounds extracted from diverse marine organisms such as algae, sponges, and corals, present promising antioxidant and antidiabetic potential. This review systematically evaluates the chemical diversity, biological sources, and mechanisms of action of marine terpenoids in mitigating diabetes-associated oxidative stress. Marine terpenoids exhibit potent antioxidant capabilities via radical scavenging, modulation of cellular antioxidant defenses, regulation of redox-sensitive pathways such as Nrf2/ARE and NF-κB, metal chelation, and pro-oxidant enzyme inhibition. Preclinical studies underscore their efficacy in reducing hyperglycemia, enhancing insulin sensitivity, preserving pancreatic β-cell function, and protecting against diabetic complications, including nephropathy and cardiovascular diseases.Despite the promising preliminary results, further studies addressing bioavailability, pharmacokinetics, long-term safety, and sustainability are imperative to establish marine terpenoids as viable therapeutic options for diabetes management.
Keywords: Marine terpenoids, Oxidative Stress, Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), antioxidant, Pancreatic β-cell, Hyperglycemia, diabetic complications, redox signaling
Received: 22 Jun 2025; Accepted: 25 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Rampengan, Lele, Romano, Taslim, Tjandrawinata, Santini and Nurkolis. 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:
Raffaele Romano, Universita degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy
Antonello Santini, Universita degli Studi di Napoli Federico II Dipartimento di Farmacia, Naples, Italy
Fahrul Nurkolis, Medical Research Center of Indonesia, Surabaya, Indonesia
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.