ECAM Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 1741-4288 1741-427X Hindawi Publishing Corporation 452313 10.1155/2012/452313 452313 Research Article Antidiabetic Effects of Add-On Gynostemma pentaphyllum Extract Therapy with Sulfonylureas in Type 2 Diabetic Patients Huyen V. T. T. vu.huyen@ki.se 1,2,3 Phan D. V. daovanphan@yahoo.com 2 Thang P. pham_thang_vlk@yahoo.com 3 Ky P. T. phamky08@yahoo.com 4 Hoa N. K. hnguyenkhanh@yahoo.com 5 Ostenson C. G. claes.ostensson@karolinska.se 1 Huat Benny Tan Kwong 1 Endocrine and Diabetes Unit Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery Karolinska Institute,17176 Stockholm Sweden ki.se 2 Hanoi Medical University, 1000 Hanoi Vietnam hmu.edu.vn 3 National Institute of Gerontology, 1000 Hanoi Vietnam 4 Department of Material Medica, Hanoi College of Pharmacy, 1000 Hanoi Vietnam cimsi.org.vn 5 Department of Internal Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada R3T 2N2 umanitoba.ca 2012 17 10 2012 2012 09 04 2012 25 09 2012 2012 Copyright © 2012 V. T. T. Huyen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Aims. To investigate the antidiabetic effect of the traditional Vietnamese herb Gynostemma pentaphyllum (GP) together with sulfonylurea (SU) in 25 drug-naïve type 2 diabetic patients. Methods. After 4-week treatment with gliclazide (SU), 30 mg daily, all patients were randomly assigned into 2 groups to add on GP extract or placebo extract, 6 g daily, during eight weeks. Results. After 4-week SU treatment, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and Hb A 1C decreased significantly ( P < 0.001 ). FPG was further reduced after add-on therapy with 2.9 ± 1.7 and 0.9 ± 0.6 mmol/L in the GP and placebo groups, respectively ( P < 0.001 ). Therapy with GP extract also reduced 30- and 120-minute oral glucose tolerance test postload values. Hb A 1C levels decreased approximately 2% units in the GP group compared to 0.7% unit in the placebo group ( P < 0.001 ). Conclusion. GP extract in addition to SU offers an alternative to addition of other oral medication to treat type 2 diabetic patients.