Efficacy, safety, and mechanisms of herbal medicines used in the treatment of obesity: A protocol for systematic review

INTRODUCTION: This systematic review protocol aims to perform a protocol for assessing the effectiveness, safety, and mechanism of herbal medicines for the treatment of obesity and metabolic syndrome. Some systematic reviews conducted earlier have evaluated the efficacy of herbal medicine to treat obesity and metabolic syndrome. Owing to the huge burden imposed by obesity in the recent years, a need is felt for conducting new systematic reviews on the topic of obesity with a focus on randomized clinical trials, we felt the need. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: All relevant clinical trials that examine the effectiveness of herbal medicines for the treatment of obesity and metabolic syndrome without restrictions on publication status will be applied. Four electronic databases will be searched: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. The main outcome is expected to be an improvement in the body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, body fat (weight or mass of visceral adipose tissue, fat mass or percent), and appetite. Selection studies, data extraction, and risk of bias will be assessed independently by 2 authors. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: In this study, ethical approval is not required because the data that will be used are not subjects and the results will be discussed through peer-reviewed publications. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPEROCRD42016049753.