Clinical summary
Diabetes mellitus, which is ranked, as the sixth leading cause of disability is estimated to have affected more than 425 million diabetics, according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). The development of this metabolic condition is contributed by genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors including diet and physical activity. Several anti-diabetic agents (pharmaceutical drugs) have been developed to treat and manage T2DM. Alternate treatments, in the form of natural products extracted from herbal plants have also exhibited hypoglycemic activity. A number of in-vitro, in-vivo & human studies have been done to investigate the natural constituents in the leaves of the herb Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni and few studies, in humans and rodents, have demonstrated that Stevioside and other Steviol glycosides (SGs) have anti-diabetic capabilities.
The objective of this systematic review was to critically evaluate evidence on the effectiveness of Steviol glycosides (SGs) on human health; especially TY2DM biomarkers. A total of 7 studies compromising of 9 RCTs, and 462 participants were included in the meta-analysis that assessed the effects on: BMI, blood pressure (BP), fasting blood glucose (FBG), lipids, and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). The study reported that there was an overall significant reduction in systolic BP for SG between SG group and placebo. Other diabetic bio markers – BMI, diastolic BP, FBG, total cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) showed non-significant reduction while LDL & triglycerides showed a non-significant increase. Also no significant effect of HbA1c was found. More studies investigating the effect of SGs on human health, particularly T2D biomarkers, are warranted
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