Two studies hail resveratrol type 2 diabetes potential

17-Sep-2013 - Last updated on 18-Sep-2013 at 10:37 GMT

“Newer treatments are required to complement and enhance the efficacy of existing diabetic regimen," say researchers.

Supplemental resveratrol should be considered as an adjunct to standard anti-diabetic agents in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, according to two studies conducted at the University of Medical Sciences in Iran and JSS University in India.

Resveratrol is a polyphenol and anti-fungal antioxidant most typically sourced from grapes and red wine.

The JSS University, India

57 participants with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) were given either oral hypoglycemic agents in the control group or resveratrol (250mg/day) and oral hypoglycemic agents in the intervention group over a period of six months.

“Our central findings are that oral supplementation of resveratrol along with antidiabetic agents is effective in improving vascular risk factors, namely body weight, oxidative stress and lipid profile in type 2 diabetic patients,” professor Moola Joghee Nanjan told NutraIngredients.

“The practical implications of these findings are that type 2 diabetic patients are known to be more sensitive to the deterioration in their quality of life because of the chronic disease, related complications, alternative treatment, diet restriction and lifelong treatment with tablets or insulin. Supplementation of resveratrol is expected to improve their quality of life."

Existing type 2 diabetes (T2DM) treatments limit their use because of side effects like weight gain, hypoglycaemia and contraindications. Furthermore, current anti-diabetic treatments do not have any significant impact on associated risk factors, claim the JSS University researchers.

“There is a need, therefore, for new therapies that may improve not only hyperglycaemic effect but also the associated problems,” the researchers wrote. “Resveratrol could, therefore, be used as an effective adjuvant therapy with conventional hyperglycemic regimen for the management of diabetes.”

The University of Medical Sciences, Iran

The objective of the Iranian study was to examine the effectiveness of resveratrol in lowering blood glucose in conjunction with standard anti-diabetic treatment of type 2 patients in a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blinded parallel clinical trial.

The research involved 66 participants with T2DM randomly assigned to either an intervention resveratrol supplemented group (1 g/day for 45 days) or a control group which received placebo tablets.

“The central findings of the study was that supplementation of resveratrol (along with standard anti-diabetic medication) for a short term is beneficial in lowering blood glucose and insulin in patients with type 2 diabetes,” Dr Ali Movahed told NutraIngredients.

“If future trials also confirm the positive outcomes observed in our study, resveratrol could become an adjunct in diabetic medicine. “Newer treatments are required to complement and enhance the efficacy of existing diabetic regimen.”

The most recent epidemiological data from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) showed that diabetes affects around 371m people globally, of which 4.8m die every year. This latter study noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the countries having the highest prevalence of T2DM. The study outlined also that developing countries will make up 77.6% of those affected by 2030.

Source: International Research Journal of Pharmacy

Vol. 2013, Iss. 4, pp. 245-249, doi: 10.7897/2230-8407.04849

“Resveratrol Supplementation in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Prospective, Open Label, Randomized Controlled Trial”

Authors: B.J. Kumar, M.J. Nanjan

Source: Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Vol. 2013, doi:10.1155/2013/851267

“Antihyperglycemic Effects of Short Term Resveratrol Supplementation in Type 2 Diabetic Patients”

Authors: A. Movahed, I. Nabipour, X.L Louis, et al.

1 comment

Diabetes and Resveratrol - the science

Posted by J Betz, 19 September 2013 - 07:40 GMT

Beginning in 2005 with Jill Crandall's study using Transmax resveratrol at the Albert Einstein Med. College, in which the compound was shown to beneficially attenuate blood glucose and insulin sensitivity in pre diabetics, through the previous study at the JSS Pharmacy College using Biotivia Bioforte, along with the mass of in-vitro evidence which has been steadily accumulating, and now these two new human clinical trials in which not only plasma glucose and insulin sensitivity were improved, but parameters including body weight, LDL and HLD cholesterol, and even blood pressure were improved, it is clear that 1. Compelling peer-reviewed evidence now exists which supports the inclusion of Resveratrol into the standard treatment protocol for at least Type 2 Diabetes, and 2. Biotivia resveratrol formulations, specifically Bioforte and Transmax, have become the default choice of the medical research community in its investigations of this compound.

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