Abstract
Objective
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of trigonella foenum-graecum L. total saponins (TFGs) in combination with sulfonylureas (SU) in the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) not well controlled by SU alone.
Methods
Sixty-nine T2DM patients whose blood glucose levels were not well controlled by oral sulfonylureas hypoglycemic drug were randomly assigned to the treated group (46 cases) and the control group (23 cases), and were given TFGs or placebo three times per day, 6 pills each time for 12 weeks, respectively. Meanwhile, the patients continued taking their original hypoglycemic drugs. The following indexes, including effects on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) symptoms, fast blood glucose (FBG), 2-h post-prandial blood glucose (2h PBG), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), clinical symptomatic quantitative scores (CSQS), body mass index (BMI), as well as hepatic and renal functions, were observed and compared before and after treatment.
Results
The efficacy on TCM symptoms was obviously better in the treated group than that in the control group (P<0.01), and there were statistically remarkable decreases in aspect of FBG, 2h PBG, HbA1c and CSQS in the treated group as compared to those in the control group (P<0.05 or P<0.01), while no signifiClassifi cationcant difference was found in BMI, hepatic and renal functions between the two groups (P>0.05).
Conclusion
The combined therapy of TFGs with sulfonylureas hypoglycemic drug could lower the blood glucose level and ameliorate clinical symptoms in the treatment of T2DM, and the therapy was relatively safe.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Pan CY, Jin WS. Epidemiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Chin J Endocrinol Metab (Chin) 2005;21(5):5S1–5S5.
Xu MY, Lu GH, Chen MD, eds. Diabetes. Shanghai: Shanghai Scientific and Technical Publishers, 2003:304–305.
Neeraja A, Rajyalakshmi P. Hypoglycemic effect of processed fenugreek seed in humans. J Food Sci Technol 1996;33:427–431.
The Expert Committee on the Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes Mellitus. Report of the Expert Committee on the Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes Mellitus. Diabetes Care 1997;20:1057–1058.
The Special Committee of Diabetes Mellitus, Chinese Association of the Integration of Traditional and Western Medicine. Standard for Diagnosis and Therapeutic Effect Evaluation of Diabetes Mellitus by Integrative Chinese and Western Medicine (Draft, Chin). Chin J Integr Med 2005;25(1):94–95.
Ministry of Health, P. R. China. Guiding Principle of Clinical Research on New Drugs of TCM. Vol 1. Beijing: People’s Medical Publishing House, 1993:215–217.
Ferrannini E. Insulin resistance versus insulin deficiency in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: problems and prospects. Endocr Rev 1998;19:477–490.
Sharma RD, Sarkar A, Hazra DK, et al. Use of fenugreek seed powder in the management of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Nutrit Res 1996;16:1331–1339.
Li LL, Zhang YM, Wang XF, et al. The study of TFGs extracts on type 2 diabetes mellitus mice and rats. J Xinjiang Med Univ (Chin) 2005;28(2):98–101.
Ravtkumar P, Anuradha CV. Effect of fenugreek seeds on blood lipid peroxidation and antioxidants in diabetic rats. Phytother Res 1999;13(3):197–201.
Preet A, Siddiqui MR, Taha A, et al. Long-term effect of Trigonella foenum graecum and its combination with sodium orthovanadate in preventing histopathological and biothemical abnormalities in diabetic rat ocular tissues. Mol Cell Biochem 2006;289:137–147.
Thakran S, Siddiqui MR, Baquer NZ. Trigonella foenum graecum seed powder protects against pathological abnormalities in tissues of diabetic rats. Mol Cell Biochem 2004;266:151–159.
Vijayakumar MV, Singh S, Chhipa RR. The hypoglycaemic activity of fenugreek seed extract is mediated through the stimulation of an insulin signalling pathway. Br J Pharmacol 2005;146:41–48.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lu, Fr., Shen, L., Qin, Y. et al. Clinical observation on trigonella foenum-graecum L. total saponins in combination with sulfonylureas in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 14, 56–60 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-007-9005-3
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-007-9005-3