Effect of supplementation of Coccinia Cordifolia extract on newly detected diabetic patients

Abstract

Objective: Coccinia indica (synonym Coccinia cordifolia), a herb growing abundantly in India, has been used in the traditional treatment of diabetes mellitus. However, carefully controlled studies of its efficacy are lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Coccinia on blood glucose levels of incident type 2 diabetic patients requiring only dietary or lifestyle modifications.

Research Design and Methods: The study was a double blind, placebo control, randomized study trial. Sixty incident type 2 diabetics (aged 35 – 60 years) were recruited from St. Johns Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, India. The subjects were randomly assigned into the placebo or experimental group and were provided with 1 g of an alcoholic extract of the herb for 90 days. Anthropometric, biochemical, dietary and physical activity assessment were carried out at baseline and were repeated at day 45 and day 90 of the study. All the subjects were provided with standard dietary and physical activity advice for the control of their blood sugars.

Results: There was a significant decrease in the fasting, post prandial blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin of the experimental group when compared to the placebo group. The fasting and post prandial blood glucose levels of the experimental group at day 90 significantly decreased by 16% and 18% respectively. There were no significant changes observed in the serum lipid levels.

Conclusions: This study suggests that Coccinia cordifolia extract has a potential hypoglycemic action in patients with mild diabetes. However, further studies are needed to elucidate mechanisms of action.