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Study Title:

Grape Polyphenols Prevent Oxidative Stress and Insulin Resistance

Study Abstract

OBJECTIVE To assess the clinical efficacy of nutritional amounts of grape polyphenols (PPs) in counteracting the metabolic alterations of high-fructose diet, including oxidative stress and insulin resistance (IR), in healthy volunteers with high metabolic risk.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Thirty-eight healthy overweight/obese first-degree relatives of type 2 diabetic patients (18 men and 20 women) were randomized in a double-blind controlled trial between a grape PP (2 g/day) and a placebo (PCB) group. Subjects were investigated at baseline and after 8 and 9 weeks of supplementation, the last 6 days of which they all received 3 g/kg fat-free mass/day of fructose. The primary end point was the protective effect of grape PPs on fructose-induced IR.

RESULTS In the PCB group, fructose induced 1) a 20% decrease in hepatic insulin sensitivity index (P < 0.05) and an 11% decrease in glucose infusion rate (P < 0.05) as evaluated during a two-step hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp, 2) an increase in systemic (urinary F2-isoprostanes) and muscle (thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances and protein carbonylation) oxidative stress (P < 0.05), and 3) a downregulation of mitochondrial genes and decreased mitochondrial respiration (P < 0.05). All the deleterious effects of fructose were fully blunted by grape PP supplementation. Antioxidative defenses, inflammatory markers, and main adipokines were affected neither by fructose nor by grape PPs.

CONCLUSIONS A natural mixture of grape PPs at nutritional doses efficiently prevents fructose-induced oxidative stress and IR. The current interest in grape PP ingredients and products by the global food and nutrition industries could well make them a stepping-stone of preventive nutrition.

Study Information

Hokayem M, Blond E, Vidal H, Lambert K, Meugnier E, Feillet-Coudray C, Coudray C, Pesenti S, Luyton C, Lambert-Porcheron S, Sauvinet V, Fedou C, Brun JF, Rieusset J, Bisbal C, Sultan A, Mercier J, Goudable J, Dupuy AM, Cristol JP, Laville M, Avignon A.
Grape polyphenols prevent fructose-induced oxidative stress and insulin resistance in first-degree relatives of type 2 diabetic patients.
Diabetes Care.
2013 June