Table 1.

General characteristic of experimental groups.

Variables	Control	MS	MS + HSL
Glucose (mmol/L)	114.7 ± 6.8	113.5 ± 5.0	118.5 ± 4.9
Insulin (μU/mL)	5.3 ± 0.5	17.6 ± 1.2 **	11.6 ± 1.1 *
HOMA index	2.0 ± 0.1	9.9 ± 1.8 **	4.2 ± 0.3 *
Triglycerides (mg/dL)	52.5 ± 4.6	139.5 ± 25.6 **	74.1 ± 5.9 *
Cholesterol (mg/dL)	46.1 ± 2.1	51.5 ± 1.7	51.2 ± 0.8
Intra-abdominal fat (g)	3.1 ± 0.3	11.6 ± 1.3 **	6.1 ± 0.4 *
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)	119.1 ± 4.9	140.1 ± 6.9 **	132.2 ± 4.4 *
Leptin (ng/mL)	1.9 ± 0.5	13.5 ± 7.8 **	3.6 ± 0.8 *
Body mass (g)	397.8 ± 26.6	556.8 ± 14.1 *	425.0 ± 27.6 *

Data are mean ± SE, n = 8 each group. Statistically significant at * p < 0 04 control and MS + HSL vs. MS; ** p = 0 001 control vs. MS. Abbreviations: MS = metabolic syndrome; MS + HSL = metabolic syndrome plus Hibiscus sabdariffa L.