Skip to main content
Evidence-Based Supplement Research
Evidence-Based Supplement Research
Pillser
Search
Sign UpLog In

Healing of diabetic foot ulcer with topical and oral administrations of herbal products: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

  • 2024-02
  • International wound journal 21(2)
    • Mina Zamanifard
    • Morteza Nasiri
    • Fatemeh Yarahmadi
    • Sahar Zonoori
    • Omolbanin Razani
    • Zahra Salajegheh
    • Mohammad Imanipour
    • Seyed Mohammad Mohammadi
    • Nabi Jomehzadeh
    • Masoomeh Asadi

Study Design

Type
Meta-Analysis
Population
patients with diabetic foot ulcer (DFU)
Methods
systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs comparing standard treatment and/or placebo to standard treatment plus herbal products (topical or oral)
This systematic review aimed to qualitatively synthesize recent randomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding the effect of topical application and oral intake of herbal products on the healing of diabetic foot ulcer (DFU). Also, we sought to pool the obtained findings in a meta-analysis using a random-effects model, if RCTs were relatively comparable and homogenous. A comprehensive search was performed on five electronic data sources from their inception through 23 January 2024. The RCTs, without restriction on the country of origin, were included if they compared the effect of administering standard treatments and/or placebo (i.e. control condition) to applying standard treatments and/or herbal products in topical or oral routes (i.e. experimental condition). Out of 1166 retrieved records, 28 RCTs were included. Studies used different poly and single herbal formulations. Based on the meta-analysis, administration of standard care plus daily dressing of the ulcer site with olive oil for 28 days significantly increased the total ulcer healing score (3 RCTs; weighted mean difference [WMD] = 89.30; p < 0.001), raised frequency of complete ulcer healing (2 RCTs; risk ratio [RR] = 12.44; p = 0.039) and declined ulcer degree (3 RCTs; WMD = -22.28; p = 0.002). Also, daily use of the bitter melon leaf extract in oral form for 28 days significantly increased the total ulcer healing score (2 RCTs; WMD = 0.40; p = 0.001). Additionally, based on qualitative synthesis, the adjuvant use of herbal agents seems an intriguing choice to manage DFU. Nonetheless, considering the undesirable methodological quality of most studies and the high heterogeneity in administered herbal formulations, more robust trials are required to build a solid conclusion regarding the use of herbal products for healing DFU.

Research Insights

Back to top