About a quarter of the world's population suffers from metabolic syndrome (MetS). In recent years, the prevalence of MetS in China has also increased year by year, posing a serious threat to life and health. Traditional chinese medicine has the advantages of multi-target and multi-link in the treatment of MetS, but there is a lack of high-quality randomized controlled studies and real-world studies in clinical practice.

To observe the effects of Gehu Tiaozhi Decoction on waist circumference (WC), body weight, body fat percentage (BFP) and glucose and lipid metabolism in patients with MetS.

From June 2021 to November 2022, 84 patients with MetS were prospectively selected from the outpatient department and inpatient department of LongHua Hospital Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The subjects were randomly divided into Gehu group (42 cases) and control group (42 cases). The patients in the Gehu group were treated with Gehu Tiaozhi Decoction (Pueraria lobamle radix 6 g, Dendrobium officinale 6 g). The patients were fasted once in the morning and once in the evening, 1 bag each time, taken orally for 8 weeks. The control group was treated with placebo granules. The patients were fasted once in the morning and once in the evening, 1 bag each time, taken orally for 8 weeks. During the intervention, the two groups of patients were given the same health education (including dietary regimen and exercise prescription guidance). After 8 weeks of intervention, the WC, body weight, BMI, BFP, triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and fasting blood glucose (FBG) were compared between the two groups.

Finally, 41 patients in the Gehu group and 41 patients in the control group completed the 8-week intervention study. No statistically significant differences of WC, body weight, BMI or BFP was found between the two groups before treatment (P>0. 05). The differences of WC, body weight, BMI and BFP between the two groups before and after treatment were statistically significant (P<0.05). No statistically significant differences of TG, TC, HDL-C, LDL-C or FBG was found between the two groups before treatment (P>0. 05). The differences of TG, TC and FBG between the two groups before and after treatment were statistically significant (P<0.05). During the treatment period and after the end of follow-up, there were no serious adverse reactions in either group.

Gehu Tiaozhi Decoction can better improve the WC, body weight, BMI, BFP, TG, TC and FBG of MetS patients, and has good safety.