Review Article Antioxidant Strategies in the Management of Diabetic Neuropathy

Copyright © 2015 Ayodeji Babatunde Oyenihi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Chronic hyperglycaemia (an abnormally high glucose concentration in the blood) resulting fromdefects in insulin secretion/action, or both, is the major hallmark of diabetes in which it is known to be involved in the progression of the condition to different complications that include diabetic neuropathy. Diabetic neuropathy (diabetes-induced nerve damage) is the most common diabetic complication and can be devastating because it can lead to disability. There is an increasing body of evidence associating diabetic neuropathy with oxidative stress. Oxidative stress results from the production of oxygen free radicals in the body in excess of its ability to eliminate them by antioxidant activity. Antioxidants have different mechanisms and sites of actions by which they exert their biochemical effects and ameliorate nerve dysfunction in diabetes by acting directly against oxidative damage.This review will examine different strategies for managing diabetic neuropathy which rely on exogenous antioxidants. 1