The impact of walnut leaf on the lipid and glucose profiles in diabetic patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Managing risk factors associated with cardiovascular diseases, such as blood lipids and blood sugar in people with diabetes (PWDs), is important. Besides antidiabetic medicines, herbal remedies such as walnut leaves have long been utilized to decrease blood sugar and blood lipid levels in PWDs. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the impact of walnut leaf on the lipid and glucose profiles of PWDs through a systematic review and meta-analysis. To gain access to the primary empirical studies, domestic and international databases were searched using MeSH keywords. The databases included Barakat Gostar, SID, Magiran, IranDoc, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane, International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN), International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP), and Clinical Trial.gov (a clinical trial registration system). Data analysis was performed within Stata 14 software. The P-value was considered P <0.05. In 4 studies with a sample size of 101 individuals, which were published between 2014 and 2018, post-test scores of the treatment and control groups pointed out that the difference between insulin and FBS levels was statistically significant. The FBS level was higher in the control group than in the treatment group. However, their insulin level was lower than those in the treatment group. The difference between the levels of HbA1C, cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL, HDL, AST, ALT, ALP, and creatinine in the control and treatment groups was not statistically significant. The pre and post-test scores of the treatment group were compared. The levels of FBS, HbA1C, and LDL decreased significantly, while the patients' insulin levels increased remarkably. No noticeable correlation was observed in other lipid profiles. Due to the thoroughly limited research resources, further studies are required to confirm the findings more confidently.