Liver damage is a severe problem between patients with Diabetes Mellitus (dm). DM is a world-wide public health problem with an intensifying occurrence and dominance, mainly in developing and newly developed countries. Quite a few critical trails have been recognized as causing liver damage in diabetic patients. Insulin resistance, the foremost cause of hyperglycemia and compensatory hyperinsulinemia, is the principal causative factor.

The liver plays a vigorous role in regulating glucose levels in physiological and pathological states such as DM. In type 2 DM, insulin resistance in the liver will cause hyperglycemia and further alteration of glucose metabolism. 

Accumulation of fat in the liver may be due to an inequity in the uptake, synthesis, export and oxidation of free fatty acids in the liver. The liver is the main detoxification organ of the body and plays a significant role in regulatory normal glucose homeostasis

Antioxidant therapy is a potential future therapeutic strategy; increasing antioxidant levels in patients with DM-induced liver damage may hopefully counter the effects of oxidative stress and inflammation, thereby reducing the severity of diabetic complications. 

Insulin resistance, which is provoked by oxidative stress and unusual inflammatory signals, has become one of the main factors contributing to liver damage. Insulin resistance subsequently leads to more chronic and potentially fatal conditions such as cirrhosis and end-stage liver failure. Antioxidants from plant-based and natural products with strong anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory and antiglycative properties are emerging as a future therapy. As opposed to conventional medications, antioxidants may be an alternative and beneficial way to prevent and treat this life-threatening disease.

Source: Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J. 2016 May;16(2):e132-41