RESUMEN
Hawthorn, also known as dried Crataegus pinnatifida, is a kind of woody plants widely distributed in China. Hawthorn resources including berries, leaves, flowers, and barks, which enrich the bioactive substances, such as flavonoids, triterpenes, sterols, organic acid, sugar, and so on. A lot of studies have found the role of hawthorn for preventing and treating type 2 diabetes and its complications. Till now, hawthorn resources have been used as medicine in clinic. In order to take better advantage of hawthorn resources and explore new diabetic drugs, we review here the recent advances in study on the pharmacological effects of hawthorn resources, i.e. reducing blood glucose, lipid, insulin resistance, oxidant stress, inflammations, and relative vascular complications.