Table 2.
Detailed characteristics of the included studies on diabetic patients.
| References | Patients’ Cohort | Dose of Spirulina |
Duration Treatment (Weeks/Months) |
Outcomes in Spirulina Group; (p-Value) |
Outcomes in Control Group; (p-Value) |
p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HbA1c (mg/dL) | HbA1c (mg/dL) | |||||
| Baseline 8.87 ± 0.29 | Baseline 8.47 ± 0.21 | 0.65 | ||||
| End 7.44 ± 0.20 | End 8.15 ± 0.17 | NA | ||||
|
Karizi et al., 2022 [65] |
Spirulina + Metformin group; | 2 g/day | 3 months | p = 0.001 | p = 0.016 | |
| Placebo + Metformin group |
FBS (mg/dL) | FBS (mg/dL) | ||||
| Baseline 167.30 ± 4.34 | Baseline 227.60 ± 67.85 | 0.47 | ||||
| End 136.33 ± 4.42 | End 165.47 ± 3.37 | NA | ||||
| p = 0.001 | p = 0.99 | |||||
| HbA1c (mg/dL) | HbA1c (mg/dL) | |||||
| Baseline 9.73 ± 1.92 | Baseline 9.61 ± 1.49 | 0.862 | ||||
| End 9.95 ± 2.11 | End 9.15 ± 2.03 | 0.303 | ||||
| p = 0.525 | p = 0.459 | |||||
| FBS (mg/dL) | FBS (mg/dL) | |||||
| Alam et al., 2016 [66] | Spirulina group; | 7 g/day | 45 days | Baseline 245.53 ± 78.95 | Baseline 227.60 ± 67.85 | 0.525 |
| Placebo + Metformin group | End 204.87 ± 78.15 | End 191.80 ± 78.91 | 0.65 | |||
| p = 0.003 | p = 0.212 | |||||
| PPBS (mg/dL) | PPBS (mg/dL) | |||||
| Baseline 345.73 ± 98.33 | Baseline 329.60 ± 72.92 | NA | ||||
| End 303.67 ± 96.16 | End 282.80 ± 99.90 | NA | ||||
| NA | NA | |||||
| HbA1c (mg/dL) | HbA1c (mg/dL) | |||||
| Baseline EG-I M 9.19 ± 0.88; W 8.88 ± 0.70 EG-II M 7.33 ± 0.54; W 7.20 ± 0.33 |
Baseline M 8.00 ± 1.05; W 8.64 ± 0.79 |
NA | ||||
| End EG-I M 7.11 ± 0.64; W 7.64 ± 0.48 EG-II M 6.48 ± 0.36; W 6.58 ± 0.35 |
End M 7.98 ± 1.03; W 8.62 ± 0.74 |
NA | ||||
| EG-I M p < 0.01; W p < 0.01 EG-II M p < 0.01 W p < 0.01 |
M n.s; W n.s | |||||
| EG1 group; | FBS (mg/dL) | FBS (mg/dL) | ||||
| Sowjanya et al., 2022 [67] | EG2 group | 2 g/day | 3 months | Baseline EG-I M 138.00 ± 18.39; W 128.08 ± 11.76 EG-II M 135.02 ± 18.22; W 132.33 ± 10.89 |
Baseline M 146.10 ± 25.29; W 135.12 ± 10.27 |
NA |
| Control group | End EG-I M 122.21 ± 14.48; W 111.00 ± 14.48 EG-II M 119.31 ± 14.33; W 123.12 ± 9.81 |
End M 141.43 ± 20.84; W 130.12 ± 9.76 |
||||
| EG-I M p < 0.01; W p < 0.01 EG-II M p < 0.01; W p < 0.05 |
M n.s; W n.s | NA | ||||
| PPBS (mg/dL) | PPBS (mg/dL) | |||||
| Baseline EG-I M 210.33 ± 28.99; W 212.12 ± 39.45 EG-II M 197.45 ± 23.31 W 190.03 ± 14.86 |
Baseline M 206.17 ± 22.83; W 179.24 ± 17.82 |
NA | ||||
| End EG-I M 165.56 ± 25.35; W 175.58 ± 32.11 EG-II M 171.28 ± 24.77 W 175.50 ± 18.38 |
End M 202.37 ± 22.76; W 172.09 ± 15.49 |
NA | ||||
| EG-I M p < 0.01; W p < 0.01 EG-II M p < 0.01; W p < 0.05 |
M n.s; W n.s | |||||
| HbA1c (mg/dL) | HbA1c (mg/dL) | |||||
| Baseline 9.0 ± 2.3 | Baseline 8.7 ± 1.5 | NA | ||||
| End 8.0 ± 1.3 | End 8.7 ± 1.3 | NA | ||||
| p < 0.05 | n.s | |||||
| FBS (mg/dL) | FBS (mg/dL) | |||||
| Baseline 161.7 ± 48.6 | Baseline 164.3 ± 59.4 | NA | ||||
|
Parikh et al., 2001 [68] |
Spirulina group; | 2 g/day | 2 months | End 142.4 ± 27.4 | End 165.1 ± 44.3 | NA |
| Control group | NA | NA | ||||
| PPBS (mg/dL) | PPBS (mg/dL) | |||||
| Baseline 264.9 6 65.2 | Baseline 215.2 6 67.3 | NA | ||||
| End 248.8 6 68.9 | End 212.3 6 57.6 | NA | ||||
| NA | NA | |||||
| FBS (mg/dL) | ||||||
| Beihaghi et al., 2017 [69] | Spirulina group; | 8 g/day | 3 months | Baseline 158.1 ± 44.2 | NA | |
| Control group | End 127.8 ± 36.7 | |||||
| NA |
Abbreviations: HbA1c, glycosylated hemoglobin; FBS, fasting blood glucose levels; PPBS, post-prandial blood glucose; EG1, Experimental group-1 who received Spirulina snack bar; EG2, Experimental group-2 who received Spirulina capsules; NA, not available. n.s, not significant.