Enhancing Glycemic Control: Momordica charantia as an Adjunctive Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes

In a real-world cohort of adults with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled on metformin, adding a standardized Momordica charantia extract to metformin plus dapagliflozin (dapagliflozin 10 mg/day) produced greater glycemic improvement over three months compared with metformin plus dapagliflozin alone.

Unlike standard escalation that relies solely on additional pharmacologic agents, this report documents that a standardized phytotherapeutic supplement produced measurable short-term gains when used adjunctively in routine outpatient care. For patients who remain above glycemic targets after initiating an SGLT2 inhibitor and who prefer an oral adjunct or delayed intensification, the finding offers a pragmatic, short-term option warranting clinical attention.

This real-world observational cohort enrolled ambulatory adults with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled on metformin. All participants received dapagliflozin 10 mg/day; treatment allocation to adjunctive standardized Momordica charantia versus continuation of metformin plus dapagliflozin was non-randomized and based on clinical response. Outcomes were assessed over three months.

No significant adverse events attributable to Momordica charantia were reported during follow-up, and tolerability was consistent with routine oral supplementation without new safety signals. Reported side effects did not clearly exceed those expected with standard care and did not prompt widespread discontinuation in the intervention group. Key exclusions included severe hepatic or renal impairment, active malignancy, and insulin therapy, indicating that these results apply most directly to ambulatory adults with suboptimal control on oral therapy.

Key Takeaways:

• In a real-world cohort, standardized Momordica charantia added to metformin ± dapagliflozin was associated with an additional HbA1c reduction of ~0.59% and a fasting glucose decline of ~9.0 mg/dL over three months.
• No new safety signals were identified over the three-month period; the study excluded patients with severe hepatic or renal disease and those on insulin, which limits generalizability to ambulatory adults on oral therapies.
• These observational results support consideration of adjunctive phytotherapy in selected patients but underscore the need for randomized, longer-term trials to establish causality and sustained benefit.