The Beneficial Effects of Chinese Herbal Monomers on Ameliorating Diabetic Cardiomyopathy via Nrf2 Signaling

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the main factor responsible for poor prognosis and survival in patients with diabetes. The highly complex pathogenesis of DCM involves multiple signaling pathways, including nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway, adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathway, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway, and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling pathway. Nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) seems essential to the amelioration of the progression of DCM, not only through counterbalancing oxidative stress, but also through interacting with other signaling pathways to combat inflammation, the disorder in energy homeostasis and insulin signaling, and fibrosis. It has been evidenced that Chinese herbal monomers could attenuate DCM through the crosstalk of Nrf2 with other signaling pathways. This article has summarized the pathogenesis of DCM (especially in oxidative stress), the beneficial effects of ameliorating DCM via the Nrf2 signaling pathway and its crosstalk, and examples of Chinese herbal monomers. It will facilitate pharmacological research and development to promote the utilization of traditional Chinese medicine in DCM.