Clinical efficacy of a West African sorghum bicolor-based traditional herbal preparation Jobelyn shows increased hemoglobin and CD4+ T-lymphocyte counts in HIV-positive patients

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate a traditional herbal preparation, Jobelyn,® for its effects on anemia and CD4+ T-cell counts in human immunodeficiency virus-positive (HIV+) patients in Nigeria.

Design: An open-label pilot study involving 10 confirmed (HIV+) patients who were not receiving antiretroviral therapy (ARVT) was performed, in which the patients consumed Jobelyn for 8 weeks, at a dose of 500 mg twice daily. The pilot study was followed by a controlled trial involving 51 patients, all confirmed HIV+, where the patients with CD4+ T-cell counts below 350 cells/μL were receiving ARVT. The eight patients with baseline CD4+ T-cell counts above 350 cells/μL received Jobelyn. The remaining patients who all received ARVT were randomized to ARVT alone versus ARVT+Jobelyn for 12 weeks.

Results: Patients receiving ARVT showed a statistically significant improvement in their CD4+ T-cell counts across the 12-week study period (p<0.01). Patients receiving ARVT+Jobelyn showed a faster improvement, reaching a high level of statistical significance compared to baseline already at 6 weeks (p<0.001), and remained highly significant at 12 weeks (p<0.001).

Conclusions: This is the first controlled study conducted to evaluate efficacy of Jobelyn on immune status in HIV+ patients. The data suggest that consumption of Jobelyn contributed to improved hemoglobin levels and increased CD4+ T-cell counts in Nigerian HIV+ patients. Further studies are needed to examine similar effects in other populations, and to elaborate on the underlying mechanisms, specifically, whether the consumption of Jobelyn supported multiple aspects of bone marrow function.

Figures

FIG. 1.

The changes in CD4+ T-cell counts from Trial 2 (a controlled study with 51 HIV+ patients, where HIV+ status was confirmed by electrophoresis) are shown as the group average±standard error of the mean. Improvements were seen for all three groups: Eight patients who started the study with CD4+ T-cell numbers higher than 350 cell/μL, and were not eligible for antiretroviral therapy (ARVT) consumed Jobelyn (JOB) for 12 weeks. Improvement reached statistical significance at 12 weeks (p<0.01). Forty-three patients with baseline CD4+ T-cell counts lower than 350 cells/μL were eligible for ARVT, and were randomized to either ARVT alone or ARVT and Jobelyn. There was no statistical significance in the CD4+ T-cell counts at baseline between these two groups. The group receiving ARVT alone showed the expected improvement in CD4+ T-cell counts, which reached statistical significance already at 6 weeks (p<0.01), and continued to improve at 12 weeks (p<0.001). The group that received ARVT and also consumed Jobelyn showed a more robust improvement, which reached a high level of significance already at 6 weeks, and remained highly significant at 12 weeks (p<0.001). Data analysis utilized the within-subject two-tailed paired t-test to compare each person's changes for week 6 and week 12 compared to baseline values, and also the between-groups unpaired t-test to compare the data for the ARVT+JOB+and the ARVT+JOB- groups at 12 weeks. Levels of statistical significance are indicated by asterisks: **for p<0.01, and ***for p<0.001.