Diabetes

Salvia miltiorrhiza (S. miltiorrhiza) is a popular traditional herb in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese medicine. It has been widely used in the clinic to treat diabetes and its related chronic complications. Recently, combinations containing S. miltiorrhiza and active components have attracted intensive interest. Experimental and clinical studies have confirmed that in treatment with S. miltiorrhiza, its crude extract and active components had the ability to improve endothelial dysfunction, accumulation of lipid in macrophages, the migration of macrophages to arthrosclestoic lesion areas, and the expression of inflammatory cytokines. The protective effect of S. miltiorrhiza and its active components relied greatly on the amelioration of oxidative stress, which showed as the increase of antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, glutathione system, and a decrease in malondialdehyde – the biomarker of lipid peroxidation. In this chapter, we addressed the antioxidative effect of S. miltiorrhiza and its active components in patients with diabetes mellitus or diabetic chronic complications. We hope that this chapter may contribute to the study of S. militiorrhiza in diabetes mellitus and its relationship with chronic complications.