Description
Cas No. 520-27-4.
Diosmin (diosmetin 7-O-rutinoside), a flavone derivative also known as venosmine, is a glycoside of diosmetin, which in turn is the 4'-methoxy derivative of luteolin. Diosmin is naturally occurring, mainly in the citrus family rutaceae, but also in herbs such as Teucrium gnaphalodes.
Due to high demand for pharmaceutical use, it is also made semi-synthetically by dehydrogenation of hesperidin, e.g. with iodine in pyridine. Diosmin has 10 stereocenters. It is an oral phlebotropic drug used in the treatment of venous disease, i.e., chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) including spider and varicose veins, leg swelling (edema), stasis dermatitis and venous ulcers. It is also used as a stand-alone or surgical adjunctive therapy in hemorrhoidal disease (HD).
There are extensive clinical trials that show diosmin improves all stages of venous disease including venous ulcers and improves quality of life. There are no prospective studies in arterial disease.
Diosmin is currently a prescription medication in some European countries (tradenames Dio-PP, Venotec, Daflon, Detralex, Vasculera, Arvenum), containing 90% diosmin and 10% hesperidin, and sold as a nutritional supplement in the United States.
Diosmin has been found to be effective in mitigating hyperglycemia in diabetic rats. It is also speculated that diosmin might have potential in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, and its anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic activity has been demonstrated in neuronal cells, in vitro.