Efficacy and Safety of Mulberry Twig Alkaloids Tablet for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes: A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Double-Dummy, and Parallel Controlled Clinical Trial

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of mulberry twig alkaloids (Sangzhi alkaloids [SZ-A]) in the treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS This was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, and parallel controlled noninferiority clinical trial that was conducted for 24 weeks. A total of 600 patients were randomly allocated to the SZ-A group (n = 360) or acarbose group (n = 240). The primary efficacy end point was the change of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) compared with baseline. In addition, adverse events (AEs), severe AEs (SAEs), treatment-related AEs (TAEs), and gastrointestinal disorders (GDs) were monitored. RESULTS After treatment for 24 weeks, the change in HbA1c was –0.93% (95% CI –1.03 to –0.83) (–10.2 mmol/mol [–11.3 to –9.1]) and –0.87% (–0.99 to –0.76) (–9.5 mmol/mol [–10.8 to –8.3]) in the SZ-A and acarbose groups, respectively, and the least squares mean difference was –0.05% (95% CI –0.18 to 0.07) (–0.5 mmol/mol [–2.0 to 0.8]) between the two groups, with no significant difference on the basis of covariance analysis (P > 0.05). The incidence of TAEs and GDs was significantly lower in the SZ-A group than the acarbose group (P < 0.01), but no differences for AEs or SAEs between the two groups were observed (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS SZ-A exhibited equivalent hypoglycemic effects to acarbose in patients with T2D. Nevertheless, the incidence of TAEs and GDs was lower following SZ-A treatment than acarbose treatment, suggesting good safety.