Introduction: Current evidence supports a central role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and diabetes. Diabetes Mellitus (DM) type 2 is an inflammatory atherothrombotic condition associated with high prevalence of thrombotic cardiovascular disease. In patients with DM, this inflammation is reflected by elevated plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. High specificity (hsCRP) is considered as a strong predictive of cardiovascular risks and death. Some evidence showed that CRP may represent an active participant in atherogenesis.

Among the DM risk factors (like hypertension, atherogenic dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, impaired fibrinolysis, inflammatory profile), inflammation is the neglected one. Moringa oleifera (M. oleifera) has been suggested to exert anti-inflammatory and hypoglycemic property.

Objective: To determine the effect of M. oleifera leaves supplementation on the hsCRP, and HgbA1c levels of diabetics of Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center DM clinic

Method s : We per formed a prospective quasi experimental study on 56 adult diabetics who were given 12-weeks supplementation of M. oleifera. Plasma hsCRP and serum HgbA1c were compared before and after treatment with M. oleifera.

Results: The over all population mean prehsCRP is 3.38 mg/dl (95% CI 2.77-3.99). Supplementation of M. oleifera decreased significantly (p<0.0001) the posthsCRP to 1.69 mg/dl (95% CI 1.28-2.09). The mean pre-HgbA1c of 6.96% (95% CI 6.64-7.09) was reduced post-HgbA1c to 6.06% (95% CI 5.88-6.24). The mean reduction of 0.6% in HgbA1c was significant (p-value <0.0001).

Conclusion: Our study confirms that diabetics may have additional benefit from intake of M. oleifera leaves by reducing hsCRP and by improving blood sugar control as evidenced by the reduction of Hgba1c.

Keywords: moringa oleifera, malunggay leaves  

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