Exploring the uncharted potential of sea plants for diabetes management: Advances, challenges, and future directions

Abstract

The rising global burden of diabetes mellitus, especially type 2 diabetes, highlights the necessity of new, safe, and sustainable treatment approaches that will not be limited to traditional pharmacological treatment options. An unexploited source of structurally diversified biologically potent antidiabetic compounds is marine ecosystems, particularly sea plants which include macroalgae (seaweeds) and seagrasses. This review is a critical analysis of current progress in the identification, isolation and characterization of marine macroalgae- and seagrass-derived bioactive metabolites that deal with regulation of glucose, insulin sensitivity, oxidative stress as well as inflammation. These compounds have an effect on major metabolic pathways. Mechanistic understanding of their mechanisms of action is supported by evidence from in vitro , in vivo , and emerging clinical studies. Simultaneously, the issues of compound standardization, bioavailability, regulatory approval, and environmental sustainability, marine biodiversity protection, and ethical bioprospecting were discussed. This review presents compelling original insights and calls on international research to invest more in developing marine biotechnology and to develop effective clinical and regulatory infrastructure to achieve the full antidiabetic potential of marine macroalgae and seagrass. With the incorporation of molecular science, environmental management and health concerns on a global scale, marine-derived bioactives can become a revolutionary frontier in the prevention and treatment of diabetes and its related complications. • Sea plants have multi-target mechanisms including enzyme inhibition and insulin signaling • The proposed ‘Sea Plant-to-Clinic’ framework can guied for future research translation • Major challenges are low bioavailability and lack of standardized clinical trials