Beneficial effects of Huanglian Jiedu decoction ( ) on metabolic syndrome: a prospective randomized controlled clinical trial.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of Huanglian Jiedu decoction (, HLJDD) in patients with metabolic syndrome (MS) and to elucidate its potential underlying mechanisms.

Methods: A total of 132 participants were enrolled and randomly divided into the HLJDD group and the control group. Participants in the HLJDD group received a 3-month HLJDD treatment in addition to lifestyle guidance, while the control group received only lifestyle guidance. Anthropometric indices, blood lipid profiles, liver function indices, glucose homeostasis, insulin sensitivity, inflammatory profiles, and the brown adipokine fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF-21) were measured both at baseline and at the end of the trial.

Results: The study demonstrated that administering HLJDD for three months significantly reduces the body weight [8.91% (6.03%-10.22%) vs5.58% (3.31%-8.70%), P<0.01], body mass index [8.55% (6.08%-10.16%) vs5.37% (3.27%-8.54%), P<0.01], waist circumference [9.56% (6.63%-14.41%) vs 7.43% (3.11%-11.69%), P <0.01] as well as the metabolic profiles of patients with metabolic syndrome. Additionally, it was observed that the HLJDD regimen led to lower serum levels of inflammatory cytokines IL-6 (-45.03% vs-22.90%, P < 0.01), IL-17A (-23.34% vs -9.13%, P < 0.05), TNF-α (-33.78% vs-11.02%, P < 0.01) and FGF-21 (P < 0.05) when compared to the control group.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that HLJDD contributes to ameliorating metabolic disorders in individuals suffering from metabolic syndrome. The data also imply that the beneficial effects of HLJDD on metabolism might be attributed to its role in enhancing FGF-21 secretion, which is otherwise compromised due to metabolic inflammation.