Safety and efficacy of Withania somnifera for anxiety and insomnia: Systematic review and meta-analysis
Fatima K, Malik J, Muskan F, Raza G, Waseem A, Shahid H, Jaffery SF, Khan U, Zaheer MK, Shaikh Y, Rashid AM
Human psychopharmacology · 11 citations
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Meta-analysis (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Funding not disclosed
Publication
- Published
- 2024-07-31 · Hum Psychopharmacol · vol. 39 · issue 6 · p. e2911
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Cited
- 14 citations · more than 89% of similar papers · 2.6× the field average
- References
- 21 works
- Access
- Paywalled
- Research areas
- Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants · Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions · Piperaceae Chemical and Biological Studies
- Keywords
- Insomnia, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Anxiety, Cochrane Library, Meta-analysis, Randomized controlled trial, Sleep onset, Withania somnifera, Sleep onset latency, Primary Insomnia, Medicine, Placebo, Confidence interval, Psychiatry, Physical therapy, Internal medicine, Sleep disorder, Sleep quality, Alternative medicine
- MeSH
- humans, withania, sleep initiation and maintenance disorders, plant extracts, treatment outcome, phytotherapy, anxiety, randomized controlled trials as topic
11 authors
From PK
- Kaneez FatimaDow University of Health Sciences
- Javeria Malik · correspondingDow University of Health Sciences
- Fnu MuskanKarachi Medical and Dental College
- Ghana RazaJinnah Sindh Medical University
- Areesha WaseemKarachi Medical and Dental College
- Hiba ShahidLiaquat National Hospital
Abstract
Objective
Despite the historical neurological use of Withania somnifera, limited evidence supports its efficacy for conditions like anxiety and insomnia. Given its known anti-stress properties, this review evaluated its safety and efficacy for anxiety and insomnia.
Methods
We searched Medline, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar until August 2023 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing W. somnifera to placebo in patients with anxiety and/or insomnia. Outcome measures included changes in anxiety levels via the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAM-A), Sleep Onset Latency (SOL), Total Sleep Time (TST), Wake After Sleep Onset (WASO), Total Time in Bed (TIB), Sleep Efficiency (SE), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score. We utilized a random-effect model for pooling Mean Differences (MD) with a 95% Confidence Interval (CI). Heterogeneity was assessed through sensitivity and subgroup analysis, and the quality of RCTs was evaluated using the Cochrane revised risk of bias tool.
Results
Pooled results from five RCTs (n = 254) demonstrated that W. somnifera significantly reduced HAM-A scores (MD = -5.96; [95% CI -10.34, -1.59]; P = 0.008; I2 = 98%), as well as sleep parameters such as SOL, TST, PSQI, and SE, but not WASO and TIB.
Conclusion
While W. somnifera extracts yielded promising results, further research with larger sample sizes is needed to confirm its effects on anxiety and insomnia.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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