Relieving the cardiometabolic disease burden: a perspective on phytometabolite functional and chemical annotation for diabetes management.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is both a complex, multifactorial disease state and an unsolved, intensifying public-health problem. To help reduce disease burden, some T2D patients have embraced plant-derived substances for use with - if not in place of - prescription medicines, a trend based mainly upon historical precedent and anecdotal observations of human health benefit. Preclinical research has emphasized phytometabolite interactions with purported T2D pathogenic targets and the effects of botanical preparations on experimental T2D symptomology as induced in laboratory animals. More holistic, systems-oriented profiling of phytochemicals with functional-biology, omics, and chemical-fingerprinting tools now appears necessary to increase our appreciation of phytometabolite actions potentially beneficial to the T2D patient. The resultant, multidimensional view of phytometabolite pharmacology should help provide a more rational basis for evaluating the potential of natural plant products as T2D pharmacotherapy. Such information may also help substantiate and legitimize (pre)clinical demonstrations of phytochemical health benefits, advance our understanding of T2D pathogenesis, and offer scope for better T2D medicines. Public-private partnerships are invoked for conducting this research with the ultimate aim of improving the global cardiometabolic profile.