News Article
Pilot Study Shows Beneficial Effect of Grape Seed Extract in Diabetes
ROME (EGMN) - Grape seed extract significantly improved inflammatory and metabolic markers in a 4-week double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot study of 32 patients with type 2 diabetes who were at high risk for cardiovascular disease.
Recent data suggest that plant-based products containing flavonoids may have anti-inflammatory and antithrombotic properties. Findings also suggest that grape seed extract (GSE), which is rich in flavonoids, may be particularly beneficial in reducing the vascular inflammation that is thought to be a contributor to the pathology of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Findings from animal models suggest it may also improve metabolic markers such as cholesterol, Dr. Partha Kar, study investigator, said at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, Sept. 8.
The double-blinded, randomized crossover trial comprised 32 patients with type 2 diabetes controlled with diet or oral glucose-lowering agents, said Dr. Kar of Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, England. Half were given 600 mg GSE (300 mg twice daily) and the other half received placebo for 4 weeks followed by a 2-week washout, after which the groups were crossed over. At baseline, the 16 men and 16 women had a mean age of 62 years, body mass index of 30.2 kg/m2, diabetes duration 5.9 years, hemoglobin A1c 6.8%, and blood pressure 134/78 mm Hg.
At 4 weeks, the inflammatory marker high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) was reduced significantly with GSE, from 3.22 at baseline to 1.95 mg/L. Levels of the metabolic marker fructosamine also dropped significantly, from 282 to 273 micromol/L. Total cholesterol also dropped slightly, from 4.5 to 4.3 mmol/L, a decline of borderline significance.
Levels of triglyceride, HDL cholesterol, and urinary albumin creatinine ratio (another marker of inflammation) did not change significantly.
The 40% reduction in hsCRP with GSE is particularly noteworthy, he said, given that it is as good or better than that seen with some statins: Previous data suggest that pravastatin reduces CRP by 5%, and atorvastatin cuts CRP by 36% (N. Engl. J. Med. 2005;352:29-38). Emerging evidence suggests that reduced rates of progression to atherosclerosis are significantly related to greater reductions in the levels of both atherogenic lipoproteins and CRP, he noted.
There were no statistical correlations between the GSE-mediated changes in vascular and metabolic markers. "We feel the reduction in inflammatory and metabolic risk markers is exciting ... Large prospective studies are required to examine whether these changes in short term surrogate markers of vascular risk with GSE translate into beneficial clinical outcome implications in type 2 diabetic patients," Dr. Kar said.
The GSE used in this study was obtained on a noncommercial basis from a U.S.-based grape product-producing company called Polyphenolics, a division of Constellation Wines, U.S., which manufactures GSE under the name Meganatural Gold. Dr. Kar disclosed that the study was funded in part by money obtained through a competitive national grant sponsored by Novo Nordisk, not from Polyphenolics. Dr. Kar does not personally have financial benefit/interest in Polyphenolics or any other company involved with GSE.
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