ANTI-HYPERGLYCAEMIC AND LIPID PROFILE REGULATORY PROPERTIES OF MORINGA OLEIFERA IN SUBJECTS AT EARLY STAGES OF TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS

Abstract

Moringa oleifera leaf powder (MOLP) was incorporated into patient diets in order to study its effects on the levels of fasting blood glucose (FBG), glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and body weight (BW) in those at the early stages of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Two tablespoons (20 g) of the leaf powder were added to a basic diet of food served cold daily at lunch and dinner for a period of 3 months. Pre-diabetic control subjects were given the basic diet without MOLP. The supplementation of MOLP into the basic diet significantly (p<0.05) reduced the elevated FBG, HbA1c, TG, TC, and LDL cholesterol levels in the MOLP-diet group, while an increase in HDL cholesterol was also recorded. MOLP exerted more pronounced effects at the end of the study when compared with the control group. Overall, BW was reduced, with better results recorded in the MOLP group. Considering the changes when compared to each initial value, the efficacy of the MOLP diet on biochemical parameters was 3.55–24.79% greater. The introduction of the effective potential change revealed an efficacy induction of 8.85–36.83% due to the MOLP diet, with a relative performance factor ranging from 1.50–4.85 among the biochemical parameters. The findings suggest that MOLP possesses promising anti-hyperglycaemic, anti-hyperlipidaemic, and lipid profile regulatory properties in T2DM subjects.