Deng Ruitang
Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Rhode Island, 41 Lower College Road, Kingston, RI 02881, USA.
Recent Pat Food Nutr Agric. 2012 Apr 1;4(1):50-60. doi: 10.2174/2212798411204010050.
Hyperglycemia is a pathological condition associated with prediabetes and diabetes. The incidence of prediabetes and diabetes is increasing and imposes great burden on healthcare worldwide. Patients with prediabetes and diabetes have significantly increased risk for cardiovascular diseases and other complications. Currently, management of hyperglycemia includes pharmacological interventions, physical exercise, and change of life style and diet. Food supplements have increasingly become attractive alternatives to prevent or treat hyperglycemia, especially for subjects with mild hyperglycemia. This review summarized current patents and patent applications with relevant literature on five commonly used food supplements with claims of hypoglycemic effects, including emblica officinalis (gooseberry), fenugreek, green tea, momordica charantia (bitter melon) and cinnamon. The data from human clinical studies did not support a recommendation for all five supplements to manage hyperglycemia. Fenugreek and composite supplements containing emblica officinalis showed the most consistency in lowering fasting blood sugar (FBS) or glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels in diabetic patients. The hypoglycemic effects of cinnamon and momordica charantia were demonstrated in most of the trials with some exceptions. However, green tea exhibited limited benefits in reducing FBS or HbA1c levels and should not be recommended for managing hyperglycemia. Certain limitations are noticed in a considerable number of clinical studies including small sample size, poor experimental design and considerable variations in participant population, preparation format, daily dose, and treatment duration. Future studies with more defined participants, standardized preparation and dose, and improved trial design and size are warranted.
高血糖是一种与糖尿病前期和糖尿病相关的病理状态。糖尿病前期和糖尿病的发病率正在上升，给全球医疗保健带来了巨大负担。糖尿病前期和糖尿病患者患心血管疾病及其他并发症的风险显著增加。目前，高血糖的管理包括药物干预、体育锻炼以及生活方式和饮食的改变。食品补充剂越来越成为预防或治疗高血糖的有吸引力的替代方法，尤其是对于轻度高血糖患者。本综述总结了当前关于五种声称具有降血糖作用的常用食品补充剂的专利和专利申请，并结合了相关文献，这五种补充剂包括余甘子（醋栗）、葫芦巴、绿茶、苦瓜和肉桂。来自人体临床研究的数据并不支持推荐使用这五种补充剂来管理高血糖。葫芦巴以及含有余甘子的复合补充剂在降低糖尿病患者的空腹血糖（FBS）或糖化血红蛋白（HbA1c）水平方面表现出最大的一致性。肉桂和苦瓜的降血糖作用在大多数试验中得到了证实，但也有一些例外。然而，绿茶在降低FBS或HbA1c水平方面益处有限，不建议用于管理高血糖。在大量临床研究中发现了一些局限性，包括样本量小、实验设计不佳以及参与者群体、制剂形式、每日剂量和治疗持续时间存在相当大的差异。未来有必要开展参与者更明确、制剂和剂量标准化、试验设计和规模得到改进的研究。
