Effect of Brazilian green propolis in patients with type 2 diabetes: A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study

Abstract

Abstract.Propolis contains a variety of chemical compounds, including polyphenols, flavonoids, phenolic aldehydes, amino acids and vitamins, and presents numerous biological and pharmacological properties. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of propolis on blood examination data in patients with type 2 diabetes. In the double-blind, 8-week randomized controlled study, 80 patients with type 2 diabetes were enrolled. Patients were randomly assigned to receive Brazilian green propolis (226.8 mg/day for 8 weeks) (n=41) or the placebo (n=39). The primary endpoint was to detect changes in blood examination data associated with metabolic disorders in patients suffering from diabetes mellitus, including the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), uric acid and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) from baseline to the end of this study. The value of HOMA-IR was not significantly changed by the 8-week administration of propolis or placebo from the baseline data. Values of blood uric acid and eGFR in patients taking the placebo became worse at 8 weeks compared to the baseline, whereas this did not occur in patients consuming Brazilian green propolis. However, HOMA-IR was not improved by propolis intake. A randomized, controlled 8-week trial suggests that Brazilian green propolis (226.8 mg/day) prevents patients with type 2 diabetes from developing worse blood uric acid and eGFR.

The efficacy of propolis on markers of glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…In almost all studies, both genders were enrolled as participants, and mean body mass index was nearly 26.5 kg/m 2 . FPG and HbA1C were reported in all RTCs (Afsharpour et al, ; El‐Sharkawy et al, ; Fukuda et al, ; Gao et al, ; Samadi et al, ; Zhao et al, ), and fasting insulin was presented in five studies (Afsharpour et al, ; Fukuda et al, ; Gao et al, ; Samadi et al, ; Zhao et al, ). Four RTCs (Fukuda et al, ; Gao et al, ; Samadi et al, ; Zhao et al, ) addressed baseline pharmacotherapy application among subjects, while the two remaining studies (Afsharpour et al, ; El‐Sharkawy et al, ) did not report participant medication.…”

“…Although all studies mentioned the random sequence generation methodology, which was used, only one study (El‐Sharkawy et al, ) sufficiently provided data allocation concealment. Four studies (Afsharpour et al, ; El‐Sharkawy et al, ; Fukuda et al, ; Samadi et al, ) were double‐blinded, and the reasons for dropouts were reported by all studies. None of the studies included reported financial support other than for supplying propolis.…”

“…Table 2 presented information about the basic characteristics of the included studies. Briefly, six RCTs (Afsharpour et al, 2017;El-Sharkawy, Anees, & Van Dyke, 2016;Fukuda et al, 2015;Gao et al, 2018;Samadi et al, 2017;Zhao et al, 2016) comprising 373 subjects were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. Studies were conducted in Japan (Fukuda et al, 2015), China (Gao et al, 2018;Zhao et al, 2016), Iran (Afsharpour et al, 2017;Samadi et al, 2017), and Egypt (El-Sharkawy et al, 2016).…”

“…The mean age of participants was nearly 57. In almost all studies, both genders were enrolled as participants, and mean body mass index was nearly (Afsharpour et al, 2017;El-Sharkawy et al, 2016;Fukuda et al, 2015;Gao et al, 2018;Samadi et al, 2017;Zhao et al, 2016), and fasting insulin was presented in five studies (Afsharpour et al, 2017;Fukuda et al, 2015;Gao et al, 2018;Samadi et al, 2017;Zhao et al, 2016). Four…”

“…Additionally, positive effects have been reported in people suffering from T2DM in certain trials (Afsharpour, Hashemipour, Khadem-Haghighian, & Koushan, 2017;Samadi, Mozaffari-Khosravi, Rahmanian, & Askarishahi, 2017). However, other trials did not find any significant effect of propolis on T2DM treatment (Fukuda et al, 2015;Gao et al, 2018;Zhao et al, 2016), and findings regarding the efficacy of propolis on fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting insulin, and hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) have remained inconclusive.…”