Glucose and lipid metabolism disorders significantly contribute to vascular damage and poor outcomes in patients with diabetes. This study aims to evaluate the combined effects of Yuquan capsules and metformin on glucose and lipid metabolism disorders and microinflammation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In this study, 100 patients with T2DM admitted to our hospital's Endocrinology Department from June 2024 to June 2025 were randomly divided into a control group (n = 50) receiving metformin and a placebo, and an observation group (n = 50) receiving metformin and Yuquan capsules, for 12 weeks. Key blood indicators such as fasting plasma glucose, 2-hour postprandial blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, triglycerides, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α were measured before and after treatment. The findings indicated that the improvement in glucose and lipid metabolism disorders, as well as the reduction in microinflammation, was significantly greater in the observation group compared to the control group (P < .05). Furthermore, interleukin-1β levels in the observation group decreased significantly from 45.6 pg/mL at baseline to 22.1 pg/mL (P < .001), with this reduction being positively correlated with a decrease in tumor necrosis factor-α levels (r = 0.62, P = .001). Subgroup analyses revealed that combined therapy led to an additional 0.9% reduction in glycated hemoglobin compared to monotherapy in patients with a body mass index of 24 kg/m2 or greater (95% confidence interval, 0.6%-1.2; P < .001). The combination of Yuquan capsules and metformin effectively improves glucose and lipid metabolism disorders and reduces microinflammation in patients with type 2 diabetes, providing new insights for using traditional Chinese medicine in T2DM treatment.
Zhang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.