Effect of nutmeg on glycemic status in rat and mice: a systematic review

Abstract Glycemic status depicts a state of individual blood glucose level. Biochemical parameters to identify glycemic status associated with diabetes mellitus include fasting or non-fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, and oral glucose tolerance. Our present work conducted a systematic review aiming to systematically summarize the in vivo experimental results of nutmeg treatments towards the glycemic status of rats and mice. The systematic review followed PRISMA guidelines. PubMed, ProQuest, Wiley Online Library, and Google Scholar were used as databases for searching articles. Twenty-one articles that met the criteria were eventually used in this systematic review. The results of the in vivo studies revealed that the intervention of nutmeg samples in rats and mice had a positive effect. This finding was present in all reviewed articles. Overall, treatment by nutmeg samples was able to attenuate fasting blood glucose, non-fasting blood glucose, and HbA1c in rats and mice, reaching up to 94.52, 60.76, and 48.86%. We also found that nutmeg samples prepared from mace and methanol had the highest effect in reducing blood glucose. Based on this systematic review, it can be concluded that nutmeg has a positive effect on improving glycemic status and reducing the risk of DM in rats and mice.