Insilico evaluation of s-methyl cysteine sulfoxide and s-allyl cysteine sulfoxide as antidiabetic agents

Abstract

Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when either the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar. It usually results in hyperglycemia over time which if not taken care of results in the damage to body systems especially the nerves and blood vessels. Currently, there are no permanent cures for any kind of diabetes; however, there are a few medications which help cope with the situation along with health life style choices including diet, exercise and weight control. Medications are still necessary to attain the required target blood sugar levels. Sometimes a single medication is sufficient while on other cases, a combination of medications work better depending on different people. Known treatments of type 2 diabetes mellitus have limitations such as weight gain, and hypoglycaemias. A new perspective is the use of incretin hormones and incretin enhancers. Incretins are defined as being responsible for the higher insulin release after an oral glucose load compared to an intravenous glucose load. The delicate balance of glucose homeostasis, in which incretin hormones are involved, is disturbed in type 2 diabetes mellitus (J., 2009) With all the mentioned side effects of the given drugs, an alternative is required with no or less side effects. S- Methyl cysteine sulfoxide and s-allyl sulfoxide from onions can be of value as antidiabetic properties have been reported in them.