Red Ginseng for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus:A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

<正>Objective:Red ginseng（RG,Panax ginseng C.A.Meyer） is one of the widely used herbs for treating type 2 diabetes mellitus（DM）.However,no systematic review of the effectiveness of RG for type 2 DM is available.This systematic review aimed to evaluate the current evidence for the effectiveness of RG in patients with type 2 DM.Methods:Electronic searches of 14 electronic databases were conducted without language restrictions.All randomized clinical trials（RCTs） with RG as a treatment for type 2 DM were considered for inclusion.Their methodological quality was assessed using the Cochrane criteria.Results:Four RCTs met our inclusion criteria.Their methodological quality was variable.Three of the RCTs compared the effectiveness of RG with placebo.The meta-analysis of these data failed to favor RG over placebo for fasting plasma glucose （FPG）[n=76,weighted mean difference（WMD）:-0.43 mmol/L;95%confidence interval（CI）:-1.16 to 0.30, P=0.25]and fasting plasma insulin（FPI）(n=76,WMD:-8.43 pmol/L;95%CI:-19.54 to 2.68,P=0.14) for 12 weeks of treatment.One RCT compared the effects of RG with no treatment.The results did not suggest favorable effects of RG on FPG,hemoglobin A1c(HbA1c) or 2-h blood glucose after a meal（PP2h）.Conclusions: The evidence for the effectiveness of RG in controlling glucose in type 2 DM is not convincing.Few included studies with various treatment regimens prohibit definitive conclusions.More rigorous studies are needed to clarify the effects of RG on this condition.