Reactive carbonyl species (RCS) may originate from the oxidation of
unsaturated fatty acids and
sugar in conditions of pathology. They are known to have high reactivity towards
DNA as well as nucleophilic sites of
proteins, resulting in cellular dysfunction. It has been considered that various pathological conditions are associated with an increased level of RCS and their reaction products. Thus, regulating the levels of RCS may be associated with the mitigation of various metabolic and
neurodegenerative disorders. In order to perform a comprehensive review, various literature databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, along with Google Scholar, were utilized to obtain relevant articles. The voluminous review concluded that various synthetic and natural agents are available or in pipeline research that hold tremendous potential to be used as a drug of choice in the therapeutic management of
metabolic syndrome, including
obesity,
dyslipidemia, diabetes, and diabetes-associated complications of
atherosclerosis, neuropathy, and nephropathy. From the available data, it may be emphasized that various synthetic agents, such as
carnosine and
simvastatin, and natural agents, such as
polyphenols and
terpenoids, can become a drug of choice in the therapeutic management for combating
metabolic syndromes that involve RCS in their pathophysiology. Since the RCS are known to regulate the biological processes, future research warrants detailed investigations to decipher the precise mechanism.