Water Soluble Vitamins and their Role in Diabetes and its Complications

Background: Diabetes is a metabolic disorder associated with abnormally high levels of glucose in the blood due to inadequate production of insulin or inadequate sensitivity of cells to the action of insulin. Diabetes has become an increasing challenge in the world. The predicted diabetic population according to the World Health Organization is 8.7% between the age group 20-70 years. There are many complications linked to prolonged high blood glucose levels, such as microvascular complications and macrovascular complications. Vitamins play an important role in glucose metabolism and the potential utility of supplementation is relevant for the prevention and/or management of diabetes mellitus and its complications. Methods: Literature search was performed using various dataset like PUBMED, EBSCO, ProQuest, Scopus and selected websites like the National Institute of Health and the World Health Organization. Result: Water-soluble vitamins have been thoroughly studied for their activity in diabetes and diabetic complications. Conclusion: Water-soluble vitamins like B1, B3, B6, B7, B9 and B12 have notable effects in diabetes mellitus and its related complications like nephropathy, neuropathy, retinopathy and cardiomyopathy.