Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is directly linked to diabetes mellitus (DM), and its morbidity and mortality are rising at an alarming rate. Individuals with DM experience significantly worse clinical outcomes due to heart failure as a CVD consequence than non-diabetic patients. Hyperglycemia is the main culprit that triggers the activation of oxidative damage, inflammation, fibrosis, and apoptosis pathways that aggravate diabetic CVD progression. In recent years, the development of phytochemical-based nutraceutical products for diabetic treatment has risen due to their therapeutic properties. Anthocyanin, which can be found in various types of plants, has been proposed for preventing and treating various diseases, and has elicited excellent antioxidative, anti-inflammation, anti-fibrosis, and anti-apoptosis effects. In preclinical and clinical studies, plants rich in anthocyanin have been reported to attenuate diabetic CVD. Therefore, the development of anthocyanin as a nutraceutical in managing diabetic CVD is in demand. In this review, we unveil the role of anthocyanin in modulating diabetic CVD, and its potential to be developed as a nutraceutical for a therapeutic strategy in managing CVD associated with DM.
Keywords: apoptosis; cardiac dysfunction; cyanidin; delphinidin; diabetic cardiomyopathy; fibrosis; inflammation; oxidative stress; vascular dysfunction.