Forest plots of controlled clinical trials investigating the effect of ginseng on glycated hemoglobin.

<p>The diamond represents a pooled effect estimate. Paired analyses were applied to all crossover trial <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0107391#pone.0107391-Elbourne1" target="_blank">[18]</a>. Data are mean differences (MD) with 95% CI. <i>P</i> values are for Generic Inverse Variance random effects models. Inter-study heterogeneity was tested by the Cochran Q statistic at a significance level of <i>P</i> <0.10 and quantified by the I² statistic, where I² ≥ 50% is considered to be evidence of substantial heterogeneity.</p

Flow of the literature search for the effect of ginseng on glycemic outcomes (FBG, FPI, HbA1c, and HOMA-IR).

<p>Flow of the literature search for the effect of ginseng on glycemic outcomes (FBG, FPI, HbA1c, and HOMA-IR).</p

Characteristics of Studies Investigating the Effect of Ginseng on Glycemic Outcomes.

<p>Abbreviations: T1DM – Type 1 Diabetes mellitus; T2DM – Type 2 Diabetes mellitus; Pre-DM – Pre-diabetes Mellitus; EHPT – Essential hypertension; F – Female; M – Male; BMI – Body mass index; C – Control group; T – Treatment group; T1 – Treatment group #1; T2 – Treatment group #2; T3 – Treatment group #3; IP – Inpatient; OP – Outpatient; MQS – Heyland Methodological Quality Score; N/R – Not reported.</p><p>*Studies by Sotaniemi et al. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0107391#pone.0107391-Sotaniemi1" target="_blank">[7]</a>, Yoon et al. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0107391#pone.0107391-Yoon1" target="_blank">[30]</a>, and Reeds et al. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0107391#pone.0107391-Reeds1" target="_blank">[25]</a> contained multiple comparisons, and to mitigate unit-of-analysis error, we combined groups to create a single pairwise comparison.</p>†<p>Pre-DM included subjects with either Impaired Fasting Glucose or Impared Glucose Tolerance.</p>‡<p>Pre-study baseline BMI is listed. The study by Rhee et al. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0107391#pone.0107391-Rhee1" target="_blank">[26]</a> did not report SD for the mean BMI of participants.</p>§<p>Pre-study baseline endpoints are listed. In studies were these values were not reported, the start value of control was assumed to be equivalent to baseline and was reported. Where start of control value was not given, of control value was assumed to be equivalent to baseline and was reported. Assumed values are reported in bold. The study by Reay et al. (a) & (b) <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0107391#pone.0107391-Reay1" target="_blank">[24]</a> used n = 23 and n = 14 respectively for reporting data on fasting blood glucose, n = 17 and n = 12 respectively for reporting data on fasting plasma insulin, and n = 18 and n = 11 respectively for reporting data on HbA1c.</p><p>∥Ginseng dose is reported individually for trials with multiple treatment groups.</p>¶<p>All ginseng doses were compared to placebo, a control group that did not receive ginseng, or fermented soybean.</p><p>**Study quality was assessed by the Heyland Methodological Quality Score (MQS) and trials with a score ≥ 8 were considered to be of high quality.</p>††<p>Agency funding is that from government, university or not-for-profit health agency sources. None of the trialists declared conflicts of interest.</p><p>All data is expressed as mean ± SD.</p><p>Characteristics of Studies Investigating the Effect of Ginseng on Glycemic Outcomes.</p

Forest plots of controlled clinical trials investigating the effect of ginseng on FBG.

<p>The diamond represents a pooled effect estimate. Paired analyses were applied to all crossover trials <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0107391#pone.0107391-Elbourne1" target="_blank">[18]</a>. Data are mean differences (MD) with 95% CI. <i>P</i> values are for Generic Inverse Variance random effects models. Inter-study heterogeneity was tested by the Cochran Q statistic at a significance level of <i>P</i> <0.10 and quantified by the I² statistic, where I² ≥ 50% is considered to be evidence of substantial heterogeneity.</p

Forest plots of controlled clinical trials investigating the effect of ginseng on homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance.

<p>The diamond represents a pooled effect estimate. Paired analyses were applied to all crossover trials <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0107391#pone.0107391-Elbourne1" target="_blank">[18]</a>. Data are mean differences (MD) with 95% CI. <i>P</i> values are for Generic Inverse Variance random effects models. Inter-study heterogeneity was tested by the Cochran Q statistic at a significance level of <i>P</i> <0.10 and quantified by the I² statistic, where I² ≥ 50% is considered to be evidence of substantial heterogeneity.</p