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REVIEW article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1554189
Gut Microbiota and Its Metabolites Regulate Insulin Resistance: Traditional Chinese Medicine Insights for T2DM
Provisionally accepted- 1 Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
- 2 Ningxiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Changsha, Anhui Province, China
The gut microbiota is closely associated with the onset and development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), characterized by insulin resistance(IR) and chronic low-grade inflammation. However, despite the widespread use of first-line antidiabetic drugs, IR in diabetes and its complications continue to rise. The gut microbiota and its metabolic products may promote the development of T2DM by exacerbating IR. Therefore, regulating the gut microbiota has become a promising therapeutic strategy, with particular attention given to probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation. This review first examines the relationship between gut microbiota and IR in T2DM, summarizing the research progress of microbiota-based therapies in modulating IR. We then delve into how gut microbiota-related metabolic products contribute to IR. Finally, we summarize the research findings on the role of traditional Chinese medicine in regulating the gut microbiota and its metabolic products to improve IR. In conclusion, the gut microbiota and its metabolic products play a crucial role in the pathophysiological process of T2DM by modulating IR, offering new insights into potential therapeutic strategies for T2DM.
Keywords: type 2 diabetes mellitus, Gut Microbiota, gut microbiota metabolites, Insulin Resistance, Traditional Chinese Medicine
Received: 06 Jan 2025; Accepted: 27 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Li, Yang, Luo and Deng. 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:
Jing Liu, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
Yihui Deng, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
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.