Abstract:
Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality
in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Dietary and pharmacotherapeutic
interventions to modify risk factors of CVD in patients with newly diagnosed T2DM are
important. The cardioprotective activity of Ivy gourd; Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt
(Cucurbitaceae) has been proven in animal models of diabetes mellitus.
Objective: To determine the effect of supplementation of freeze dried powder of aqueous
refluxed Ivy gourd leaf extract on body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC),
atherogenic index (AI), cardio-protective index (CPI) and coronary risk index (CRI) in newly
diagnosed patients with T2DM
Methods: Seventy three newly diagnosed patients with T2DM aged 30-60 years were treated
with newly developed herbal capsule of freeze dried powder of hot water leaf extract of Ivy
gourd (500 mg) once daily for three months. Height, weight and WC were measured and
fasting serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)
and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were estimated at the baseline and at the end
of three months. BMI and AI (TC-HDL-C/HDL-C), CPI (HDL-C/LDL-C) and CRI (TC/HDL C) were calculated. Within group changes at the end of the intervention against baseline were
compared using Wilcoxon signed-rank test. p ≤0.05 was considered as statistically significant.
Results: The mean BMI and WC of study population were 25.46 kg/m2
and 89.36 cm
respectively. The treatment of Ivy gourd capsule led to significant reductions in mean BMI by
1.02% (p = 0.019), AI by 10.24% (p = 0.006) and CRI by 7.87% (p = 0.006) with significant
increment of CPI by 9.43% (p = 0.008). There was no significant effect on WC upon the
supplementaion of Ivy gourd.
Conclusion: The supplementation of Ivy gourd (500 mg per day) for three months improved
the CVD risk factors and would be a therapeutic promise to modify CVD risk in patients with
newly diagnosed T2DM.
