Antioxidative hypoglycemic herbal medicines with in vivo and in vitro activity against C-reactive protein; a systematic review

Background: Inflammation is a double-edged sword in the pathophysiology of chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The global rise in the prevalence of T2DM in one hand, and poor disease control with currently-available treatments on the other hand, along with an increased tendency towards the use of natural products make scientists seek herbal medicines for the management of diabetes and its complications by reducing C-reactive protein (CRP) as an inflammatory marker.

Purpose: To systematically review the literature to identify the efficacy of various medicinal plants with antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties considering their effect on CRP in animal models of T2DM.

Study design: systematic review.

Methods: Electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Cochran Library were searched using the search terms "herbal medicine", "diabetes", "c-reactive protein", "antioxidants" till August 2021. The quality of evidence was assessed using the Systematic Review Centre for Laboratory animal Experimentation (SYRCLE's) tool. The study protocol was registered in PROSPERO with an ID number CRD42020207190. A manual search to detect any articles not found in the databases was also made. The identified studies were then critically reviewed and relevant data were extracted and summarized.