The Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Tulsi in Humans: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Table 1

Effect of tulsi on metabolic related-disorders in human clinical trials.

Clinical; domain	Authors; (year)	Study design	Jadad; score	Participants (age range)	Tulsi; extract	Intervention		Comparator	Outcome; measure(s)	Adverse; events (s)
						Duration	Dosage
Metabolic disorders	Gandhi et al. (2016) [61]	Randomized; controlled; clinical trial	1	40 male adults; T2DM; (45–55 years)	Tulsi leaves; caps	6.5 weeks	3 g/day; before meal	Not; disclosed	Significant postprandial; glucose & fasting blood; glucose	Not; reported
	Satapathy et al. (2016) [62]	Randomized; parallel group; clinical trial	3	30 adults; Obesity; (17–30 years)	Tulasi^1; leaves; caps	8 weeks	250 mg/day; 2x daily; before meal	Parallel group; no intervention	Improved BMI, lipid profile; (except TC), TG & IR	Mild; nausea
	Venkatesan and Sengupta (2015) [63]	Clinical trial; controlled; parallel group	0	30 adults; T2DM	Tulsi powder; leaves	2 weeks	2 g/day	Curry leaves; tulsi + curry	Significant post-prandial; glucose & fasting blood	Not; reported
	Srinivasa Prasadacharyulu (2014) [64]	Clinical study; case report	0	3 adults; T2DM	Fresh tulsi; leaves	5 weeks	fresh leaves^3; 3x daily	None	Considerable decrease in; blood glucose reaching; near normal levels	None
	Ahmad et al. (2013) [65]	Randomized; single-blind; parallel group	2	200 adults; Gouty; Arthritis	Tincture^2; from tulsi	12 weeks	10 drops; 3 times/day	Tincture; wild rosemary; 10 drops × 3/day	Significant reduction in; serum uric acid	Not; reported
	Devra et al. (2012) [66]	Randomized,; placebo-controlled; clinical trial	1	100 adults; MetS; (≥40 years)	Aqueous; tulsi Leaves	12 weeks	5 mL/×2 day; before meals	Not; disclosed	Improved lipid profile,; fasting blood glucose,; and BP	Not; reported
	Somasundaram et al. (2012) [67]	Randomized,; controlled parallel; clinical Trial	1	60 adults; T2DM; (30–65 years)	Tulsi leaves +; glibenclamide; drug	13 weeks	300 mg/day tulsi; + 5 mg; Glibenclamide	5 mg/day; glibenclamide	Significant fasting blood; & postprandial glucose; reduced HBA1c	None
	Dineshkumar et al. (2010) [68]	Randomized; placebo-controlled; clinical trial	3	40 adults; T2DM; (45–55 years)	Aqueous; tulsi leaves	8 weeks	500 g/day	Water	Significant improvement; in lipid profile	None
	Kochhar et al. (2009) [69]	Randomized,; clinical trial	1	90 male adults; T2DM/MetS; (40–60 years)	Powder; tulsi leaves	12 weeks	2 g/day	Neem; neem + tulsi	Improved T2DM; symptoms: polydipsia,; polyphagia, & BP	Not; reported
	Rai et al. (1997) [38]	Clinical trial; controlled group	1	27 adults; T2DM/MeS; (45–65 years)	Tulsi; powder; leaves	4 weeks	1 g/day; in morning; before meal	None	Improved lipid profile,; blood glucose, glycated; proteins (HbA1c) & UA	Not; reported
	Agrawal et al. (1996) [70]	Randomized,; single-blind,; Placebo-controlled; cross-over	1	40 adults; T2DM; (41–65 years)	Tulsi; powder; leaves	5 weeks; (+5-day wash out)	2.5 g/day; in morning; before meal	Spinach; powder; leaves; 2.5 g/day	Significant ↓fasting blood; glucose, post-prandial; glucose and urine glucose	None
	Luthy (1964) [71]	Clinical trial	1	10 adults; T2DM	Whole plant; decoction	12 weeks	14 g/day	None	Reduced blood glucose; in 9 T2DM adults	None
	Verma et al. (2012) [72]	Clinical trial	0	5 adults; psychosomatic; (60–80 years)	Powder; whole plant; tulsi	12 weeks	3 g × 2/day	None	Significant improvement; in lipid profile	None
	Bhargava et al., (2013) [73]	Clinical study; open label	1	50 Female; adults; hypotensive; (18–30 years)	Fresh juice; 15 tulsi; leaves	4 weeks	Juice × 2/day	None	Significant changes,; in Blood pressure	Not; reported
	Mondal et al. (2012) [74]	Randomized,; double-blind,; placebo-controlled; cross-over; leaves	5	22 healthy; adults; (22–37 years)	Ethanolic; tulsi	4 weeks; (+3-week wash-out)	300 mg/day; before food	300 mg/day; sucrose	Reduction in lipid profile,; in 6 participants	None
	Sarvaiya (1986) [75]	Randomized; placebo controlled; cross-over	1	20 adults,; hypertension; (45–64 years)	Fresh Juice; 75% tulsi	10 days; (+5-day wash-out)	30 mL/day	Green colored; water 30 mL/day; before meal	Significant ↓blood pressure	None
	Sarvaiya (1986) [75]	Randomized; placebo-controlled	1	16 adults,; hypertension; (45–64 years)	Fresh Juice; 75% tulsi	12 days	30 mL; 2 times a day; before meals	Green-colored; water; 30 mL × 2/day	Significant ↓blood pressure; (lowered by 25%)	None

BMI = body mass index measured by weight (kg)/height (m²); BP = blood pressure; HbA1C = glycosylated haemoglobin; IR = insulin resistance; MetS = metabolic syndrome; T2DM = type 2 diabetes mellitus; TC = total cholesterol, TG = triglycerides; UA = uric acid.
Intervention duration is the time the intervention was administered excluding any washout periods.
Participants who completed the study are listed excluding any drop-outs.
¹Tulasi Tablets are product of Himalaya Herbal Healthcare Pharmaceutical Company in India.
²Tincture is a product of BM private limited.
³The quantity of tulsi fresh leaves was not specified; “handful” of leaves was given to each patient.