Diosmin

Diosmin is a flavone, a member of the flavonoid family. Diosmin aglycone is diosmetin. It can be found in Teucrium gnaphalodes, a plant endemic to the Iberian Peninsula.

Drug

Diosmin is semisynthetic drug (modified hesperidin). It is an oral phlebotropic drug used in the treatment of venous disease, i.e., chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) and hemorrhoidal disease (HD), in acute or chronic hemorrhoids, in place of rubber-band ligation, in combination with fiber supplement, or as an adjuvant therapy to hemorrhoidectomy, in order to reduce secondary bleeding. To control internal symptoms of hemorrhoids (piles), it is used with hesperidin.

Clinical studies have been inconclusive and no review articles on its use in vascular disease have been published.

Diosmin is currently a prescription medication in some European countries (under the Dio-PP, Venotec, Daflon etc. tradenames), and is sold as a nutritional supplement in the United States and the rest of Europe.

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.