The effects of propolis supplementation on blood pressure in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials
Abstract
Purpose
Recent trials have found that propolis supplementation can beneficially reduce blood pressure (BP) in adults, but there is no definitive consensus on this topic. The purpose of this study is to provide an overview and update the current documents regarding the effects of propolis supplementation on BP by presenting a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
The systematic search was conducted, considering all studies published up to July 2024, in the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library and ISI Web of Science. Data were pooled by using the random-effects model, and weighted mean difference (WMD) was considered as the summary effect size.
Findings
In this systematic review and meta-analysis, eight clinical trials were included. The obtained results show that propolis supplementation caused a significant decrease in systolic BP (WMD = −3.93 mmHg, 95% CI = −7.05 to −0.82, p = 0.01 and I2 = 45.2%). However, the meta-analysis results showed that propolis supplementation did not significantly change the levels of diastolic BP (WMD = −1.64 mmHg, 95% CI = −4.60 to 1.32, p = 0.27 and I2 = 74.0%).
Originality/value
The findings of this study suggest that propolis supplementation may be used as a dietary supplement to improve systolic BP, but further studies are needed to confirm these results.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
First, the authors would like to thank everyone for their contributions. Sincere gratitude goes to all authors who were involved in this research project, without their support and hard work this project would not be reality. Second, the authors are grateful for Saudi German Hospital in Jeddah and its management for their support and providing needed resources for completing this research project. Finally, the authors would like to extend their appreciation and thanks for the internal medicine department colleagues; Specified medical hospital; and Mansoura University for their support, guidance throughout the research project.
Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Credit authorship contribution statement: AAMAES and SU conceived and designed the research. AK and OKA and ML performed screening and data extraction. AAMAES and SU analyzed data. AAMAES and SU drafted the manuscript. AAMAES and AHZ revised the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Availability of data: The data set and analyzes are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Declaration of competing interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could be perceived as having influenced the work described in this paper.
Citation
El-Sehrawy, A.A.M.A., Uthirapathy, S., Kumar, A., Alkadir, O.K.A., Lal, M., Kaur, P. and Zwamel, A.H. (2024), "The effects of propolis supplementation on blood pressure in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/NFS-08-2024-0275
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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