REVIEW Effect of purslane on blood lipids and glucose: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials Amir Hadi 1 | Makan Pourmasoumi 2 | Ameneh Najafgholizadeh 3 | Marziyeh Kafeshani 1 | Amirhossein Sahebkar 4,5,6 1 School of Nutrition and Food Science, Food Security Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran 2 Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases Research Center (GLDRC), Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran 3 Department of Microbiology, Naein Branch, Islamic Azad University Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran 4 Biotechnology Research Center, Pharmaceutical Technology Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran 5 Neurogenic Inflammation Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran 6 School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran Correspondence Marziye Kafeshani, Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, PO Box 81745, Isfahan, Iran. Email: marzikafeshani@hlth.mui.ac.ir Amirhossein Sahebkar, Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box: 91779‐48564, Mashhad, Iran. Email: sahebkara@mums.ac.ir; amir_saheb2000@yahoo.com Despite a history of purslane usage as a herbal treatment for dyslipidemia and hyper- glycemia management, existing evidence from clinical trials is controversial. The aim for the current study was to evaluate the efficacy of purslane supplementation on lipid parameters and glycemic status in adult populations. A systematic review was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, and Google Scholar up to January 15, 2018, searching for randomized controlled trials that assessed the impact of purs- lane on fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglycerides, total cholesterol (TC), low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C), and high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C). Based on the detected heterogeneity between studies, a random‐ or fixed‐effect model was applied in the meta‐analysis. The findings from six randomized controlled trials, comprising 352 participants, indicated that purslane can reduce FBG (-4.54 mg/ dl, 95% CI [-7.54, -1.53]; I 2 = 0.53%) and triglycerides (-19.16 mg/dl, 95% CI [-38.17, -0.15]; I 2 = 0%) levels. Changes in TC, LDL‐C, and HDL‐C concentrations did not reach a statistically significant level. Subgroup analysis showed a favorable effects of purslane on FBG, triglycerides, TC, and LDL‐C in a subset of studies in which purs- lane was administered >1.5 g/day. Categorization based on gender showed that purs- lane was more effective in improving FBG, TC and LDL‐C in females compared with males. This systematic review and meta‐analysis suggested that the purslane might be effective on the improvement of blood lipid and glucose levels. Further robust studies with sufficient durations and dosages of supplementation are needed to con- firm these results. KEYWORDS cholesterol, fasting blood sugar, high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, meta‐analysis, Portulaca, triglycerides 1 | INTRODUCTION Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been the principal cause of death globally since 1967 (Bhatnagar, Wickramasinghe, Williams, Rayner, & Townsend, 2015). Based on official reports published by the American Heart Association, CVD was responsible for almost 31% of total global deaths in 2013, and it is projected to grow more than 50% by 2030 (Lloyd‐Jones et al., 2010). Besides high morbidity and mortality, this class of noncommunicable diseases is also associated with a loss of quality of life and high costs (Bloom et al., 2012). These facts underline the role of CVD as a common health care problem and emphasize the importance of identifying appropriate solutions for its prevention and treatment. Overall, CVD is caused by a combination of genetic and envi- ronmental factors like imbalanced diet, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, and social stress (Association, 2017; Bhatnagar et al., 2015). Additionally, metabolic risk factors including hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia play a dominant role in the onset and progression of CVD (Fakhrzadeh & Tabatabaei‐Malazy, 2012; Levitan, Song, Ford, & Liu, 2004). Thus, Received: 5 March 2018 Revised: 28 July 2018 Accepted: 5 September 2018 DOI: 10.1002/ptr.6203 Phytotherapy Research. 2018;1–10. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ptr 1