Corn Silk Tea for Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract

Corn silk, a traditional Chinese medicine, has been found to exert an antihypertensive effect in clinical practice and trials. However, systematic review of current evidence on this topic was not available. Thus, this study aims to assess safety and efficacy of corn silk tea (CST) in improving clinical outcomes in patients with hypertension. A systematic literature search was conducted through popular electronic databases up to October 2018. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing CST plus conventional antihypertensive drugs with conventional antihypertensive drugs alone were included. The main outcome was total blood pressure lowering efficacy. The risk of bias assessment according to the Cochrane Handbook was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the included trials. Review Manager 5.3 software was used for data analyses. Five RCTs involving 567 participants were included. Due to the poor quality of methodologies of most trials, limited evidence showed that CST plus antihypertensive drugs might be more effective in lowering blood pressure compared with antihypertensive drugs alone (RR = 1.27; 95% CI: 1.17 to 1.38, P<0.00001; heterogeneity: P = 0.51, I2 = 0%, fixed‐effect model). However, there is no evidence that CST plus conventional antihypertensive drugs has less adverse events than conventional antihypertensive drugs.

Protection against Neurological Symptoms by Consuming Corn Silk Water Extract in Artery-Occluded Gerbils with Reducing Oxidative Stress, Inflammation, and Post-Stroke Hyperglycemia through the Gut-Brain Axis

“…Corn silk has been used traditionally for treating edema, hyperglycemia, depression, and fatigue [ 10 ]. Meta-analysis with RCT studies ( n = 567) has shown that corn silk tea supplementation with anti-hypertensive medication effectively reduces blood pressure compared to an anti-hypertensive drug alone, but these RCT studies had poor quality control [ 14 ]. Another meta-analysis has reported that corn silk tea has the potential to alleviate dyslipidemia in patients with angina pectoris [ 15 ].…”

Rapid analysis and characterization of multiple constituents of corn silk aqueous extract using ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography combined with quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry

“…Corn silk, an important TCM comprising the dried yellowish stigma and silk of corn fruit, has been widely applied for disorders such as diabetes , cancer , obesity , hypertension , inflammation , fatigue , and others . Modern studies elucidated that corn silk consists of numerous constituents such as polysaccharides , flavonoids , diterpenoids , alkaloids , steroids , and more . However, until now, the overall constituents of corn silk aqueous extract, especially the bioactive constituents, still remain unclear.…”

Herbal tea formulation using different flavoured herbs with dried corn silk powder and its sensory and phytochemical analysis

“…Although some studies relating to the therapeutic uses of corn silk tea has been made [21,22], scanty information towards combination of corn silk with other indigenous herbs and spices is available. In this paper, and for the first time, the flavoured herbal corn silk tea with different blends, were studied regarding their preparations, sensory qualities as well as total phenols, flavonoid contents and antioxidant activities.…”