Abstract
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is commonly associated with hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, oxidative stress and inflammation which are well known cardiovascular risk factors. Pomegranate peel polyphenols have a proven hypolipemic, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. However, there is a lack of clinical studies that would confirm its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in diabetic patients. The potential of pomegranate peel extract (PoPEx) to counteract inflammation and oxidative stress in T2DM patients was investigated. For this purpose, a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study involving adult T2DM patients treated with PoPEx or placebo for eight-weeks was conducted. Patients were randomly divided into two groups: the first group (n = 30) received capsules containing PoPEx 250 mg twice daily, while the placebo group (n = 30) received placebo capsules twice daily. Plasma concentration of inflammatory factors (interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and high sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP)), oxidative stress biomarkers (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), nitrites (NO2-), superoxide anion radical (O2-), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), total antioxidant capacity (TAC)), homocysteine and lipid profile were analyzed. The PoPEx treatment showed a significant reduction of inflammatory factors (IL-6, TNF-α, hsCRP), oxidative stress biomarkers (TBARS, NO2-, O2-) and homocysteine, while the TAC was increased. Moreover, a significant improvement in lipid profile was observed in the PoPEx group. Additional analysis showed a significant inverse correlation between the decrements of all measured inflammatory markers and TAC in the PoPEx group. The study demonstrated that eight-week-long PoPEx administration had favorable effects on inflammatory status and oxidative stress biomarkers in diabetic patients.
Highlights
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) makes 90–95% of all diabetes, affecting 6.28% of the world population globally [1,2]
Sixty patients with T2DM were enrolled in the study, but two of them from the placebo group were excluded from further analysis due to discontinuation of the therapy
After 8 weeks’ of pomegranate peel extract (PoPEx) supplementation we noticed significantly lowered serum values of HbA1C in PoPEx group (7.55 ± 1.22 vs. 7.32 ± 1.02%, p < 0.001), while the values remained unchanged in the placebo group
Summary
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) makes 90–95% of all diabetes, affecting 6.28% of the world population globally [1,2]. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is commonly associated with hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, oxidative stress and inflammation which are well known cardiovascular risk factors. The potential of pomegranate peel extract (PoPEx) to counteract inflammation and oxidative stress in T2DM patients was investigated. Plasma concentration of inflammatory factors (interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and high sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP)), oxidative stress biomarkers (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), nitrites (NO2−), superoxide anion radical (O2−), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), total antioxidant capacity (TAC)), homocysteine and lipid profile were analyzed. Results: The PoPEx treatment showed a significant reduction of inflammatory factors (IL-6, TNF-α, hsCRP), oxidative stress biomarkers (TBARS, NO2−, O2−) and homocysteine, while the TAC was increased. Conclusions: The study demonstrated that eight-week-long PoPEx administration had favorable effects on inflammatory status and oxidative stress biomarkers in diabetic patients
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