Hibiscus sabdariffa (HS) is a woody-based subshrub of the Malvaceae family which has various uses in traditional medicine. This review systematically evaluates the evidence from clinical trials on the antidiabetic activity of HS. A random-effects model was used to obtain summary estimates. Five outcome measure, including fasting plasma glucose (FPG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoproteins (LDL), and triglyceride (TG) were assessed in the study. The results of the overall pooled statics for the FPG level showed that there was a significant reduction in FPG (WMD = -3.964 mg/dL; 95% CI: -6.227 to -1.702 and P-value was 0.001) and in the level of LDL (WMD = -7.843 mg/dL; 95% CI: -14.337 to -1.350 and P-value was 0.018). However, the pooled estimate showed that there was no statistically significant change on the TC (WMD = -30.382 mg/dL; 95% CI: -66.752 to 5.989 and P value was 0.102), the HDL (WMD = 0.074 mg/dL; 95% CI: -1.986 to 2.135 and P value was 0.944) and the TG (WMD= -9.050 mg/dL; 95% CI, -30.819 to 12.719 and P value was 0.102) compared to the placebo. Egger’s weighted regression P values suggested that there was no potential publication bias in the FPG (P =0.664), HDL (P = 0.065), LDL (P = 0.677) and TG (P = 0.232) but there was a publication bias in the TC (0.056). Therefore, the result of this meta-analysis clearly shows that HS has antidiabetic activity, whereas its lipid-lowering effect needs further study.

芙蓉（HS）是锦葵科的木质亚灌木，在传统医学中有多种用途。这篇综述系统地评估了来自临床试验的有关HS抗糖尿病活性的证据。随机效应模型用于获得汇总估计。在研究中评估了五项结果指标，包括空腹血糖（FPG），总胆固醇（TC），高密度脂蛋白（HDL），低密度脂蛋白（LDL）和甘油三酸酯（TG）。FPG水平的总静态汇总结果表明，FPG显着降低（WMD = -3.964 mg / dL； 95％CI：-6.227至-1.702，P值为0.001），且水平低密度脂蛋白（WMD = -7.843 mg / dL; 95％CI：-14.337至-1.350，P值为0.018）。但是，汇总的估计值显示TC没有统计上的显着变化（WMD = -30。382毫克/分升; 95％CI：-66.752至5.989，P值为0.102），HDL（WMD = 0.074 mg / dL; 95％CI：-1.986至2.135，P值为0.944）和TG（WMD = -9.050 mg / dL ； 95％CI，-30.819至12.719，P值为0.102）。Egger的加权回归P值表明FPG（P = 0.664），HDL（P = 0.065），LDL（P = 0.677）和TG（P = 0.232）没有潜在的出版偏向，而TC（0.056）有出版偏向）。因此，该荟萃分析的结果清楚地表明，HS具有抗糖尿病活性，而其降脂作用尚需进一步研究。