Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2018 Jul 4;18(1):206.
doi: 10.1186/s12906-018-2268-8.

Effects of a hydroalcoholic extract of Juglans regia (walnut) leaves on blood glucose and major cardiovascular risk factors in type 2 diabetic patients: a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial

Khadijeh Rabiei  1 , Mohammad Ali Ebrahimzadeh  2 , Majid Saeedi  2 , Adele Bahar  3 , Ozra Akha  3 , Zahra Kashi  4   5
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Effects of a hydroalcoholic extract of Juglans regia (walnut) leaves on blood glucose and major cardiovascular risk factors in type 2 diabetic patients: a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial

Khadijeh Rabiei et al. BMC Complement Altern Med. .

Abstract

Background: We aimed to evaluate the effects of a hydroalcoholic extract of Juglans regia L. leaves on blood glucose level and cardiovascular risk factors in type 2 diabetic patients.

Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group (2 arms) clinical trial, 50 diabetic patients were divided into two groups: treatment group (receive the capsules containing 100 mg J. regia leaf extract) and control group (receive the capsules containing placebo, microcrystallin cellulose). Baseline participant data were matched between the two arms of the study. We administered the prepared capsules to the patients twice daily for 8 weeks. Blood glucose level, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level, body weight, body mass index, blood pressure, lipid profile, serum insulin, and insulin resistance were compared between the two groups before and after the intervention. P < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: After excluding eleven patients, 20 received J. regia leaf extract and 20 patients received placebo. The J. regia leaf extract did not significantly change the blood glucose and insulin resistance condition. However, in this group, body weight, body mass index, and systolic blood pressure significantly decreased compared with the baseline measurements (P = 0.028, P = 0.030, and P = 0.005, respectively). The lipid profile did not change significantly compared with the baseline measurements. In the control group, postprandial glucose and HbA1c levels significantly decreased after the intervention (P = 0.030 and P = 0.028, respectively). The other variables were not significantly different in this group. At the end of the study, the variables were not significantly different between the two groups.

Conclusion: In this double-blind study, 200 mg/d of J. regia leaf extract had no significant effect on blood glucose level and HOMA-IR score in patients with type 2 diabetes. However, the J. regia leaf extract was effective in reducing body weight and blood pressure. An accidental finding of our study was that microcrystalline cellulose, a widely used placebo in clinical trials, led to a reduction in blood glucose level.

Trial registration: Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT: 138901203180 N2 , 2010/6/6); retrospectively registered.

Keywords: Avicel; Blood glucose; Blood pressure; Cardiovascular; Diabetes mellitus; Herbal medicine; Juglans regia; Microcrystalline cellulose; Walnut leaves; Weight.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The Ethical Committee of the Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences approved the present study (ethics approval reference number: 144–88). After explaining the trial, patients signed an informed consent form.

Consent for publication

“Not Applicable”.

Competing interests

None.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Study flow diagram based on the CONSORT 2010 flow diagram
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Mathers CD, Loncar D. Projections of global mortality and burden of disease from 2002 to 2030. PLoS Med. 2006;3(11):e442. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0030442. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schmieder RE, Tschope D, Koch C, Ouarrak T, Gitt AK. Individualised treatment targets in patients with type-2 diabetes and hypertension. Cardiovasc Diabetol. 2018;17(1):18. doi: 10.1186/s12933-018-0661-8. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kurukulasuriya LR, Sowers JR. Therapies for type 2 diabetes: lowering HbA1c and associated cardiovascular risk factors. Cardiovasc Diabetol. 2010;9:45. doi: 10.1186/1475-2840-9-45. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Qureshi MN, Stecher G, Bonn GK. Determination of total polyphenolic compounds and flavonoids in Juglans regia leaves. Pak J Pharm Sci. 2014;27(4):865–869. - PubMed
    1. Bahramsoltani R, Ebrahimi F, Farzaei MH, Baratpourmoghaddam A, Ahmadi P, Rostamiasrabadi P, Rasouli Amirabadi AH, Rahimi R. Dietary polyphenols for atherosclerosis: a comprehensive review and future perspectives. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2017;11:1–19. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2017.1360244. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types