punicalagin and Dyslipidemias

Hydroxytyrosol (HT) and punicalagin (PC) exert cardioprotective and antiatherosclerotic effects. This study evaluated the effect of an oral supplement containing HT and PC (SAx) on dyslipidemia in an adult population. A randomized, double-blind, controlled, crossover trial was conducted over a 20-week period. SAx significantly reduced the plasma levels of triglycerides (TG) in subjects with hypertriglyceridemia (≥150 mg/dL) (from 200.67 ± 51.38 to 155.33 ± 42.44 mg/dL; p < 0.05), while no such effects were observed in these subjects after the placebo. SAx also significantly decreased the plasma levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in subjects with high plasma levels of LDL-C (≥160 mg/dL) (from 179.13 ± 16.18 to 162.93 ± 27.05 mg/dL; p < 0.01), while no such positive effect was observed with the placebo. In addition, the placebo significantly reduced the plasma levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in the total population (from 64.49 ± 12.65 to 62.55 ± 11.57 mg/dL; p < 0.05), while SAx significantly increased the plasma levels of HDL-C in subjects with low plasma levels of HDL-C (<50 mg/dL) (from 44.25 ± 3.99 to 48.00 ± 7.27 mg/dL; p < 0.05). In conclusion, the supplement containing HT and PC exerted antiatherosclerotic and cardio-protective effects by considerably improving dyslipidemia in an adult population, without co-adjuvant treatment or adverse effects.

Topics: Adult; Cholesterol, HDL; Cholesterol, LDL; Cross-Over Studies; Double-Blind Method; Dyslipidemias; Humans; Hydrolyzable Tannins; Phenylethyl Alcohol; Triglycerides

Type 2 diabetes has a series of metabolic aberrations accompanied by chronic hyperglycemia, along with various comorbidities. In recent reports, punicalagin from pomegranate has been reported to exert hypoglycemic effects against diabetes. The goal of the current research was to investigate the therapeutic effectiveness and elucidate the mechanisms of punicalagin underlying type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes was induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) combined with streptozotocin (STZ) injection in C57BL/6J mice. Punicalagin was administered daily by oral gavage for 4 weeks. The results indicated that high FBG (fasting blood glucose), dyslipidemia and associated islet, liver and kidney injury were observed in the model group mice. Through metabolomics analysis, it was found that the administration of punicalagin could regulate 24 potential biomarkers and their related metabolic pathways. Moreover, the pathological changes in the liver and kidney were mainly mediated by reducing gluconeogenesis and increasing glycogenesis via stimulation of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and regulation of the HMGB-1/TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway, which simultaneously interrelated to ten main pathological pathways. In addition, we confirmed the positive role of punicalagin in glucosamine-induced HepG2 cells and HG-induced HK-2 cells through related mechanistic studies in vitro. In conclusion, these findings suggested that the multi-effect and multi-target action mode of punicalagin had a significant hypoglycemic effect and a protective effect on diabetes mellitus. Punicalagin might serve as an alternative functional food or as a clinical supplemental therapy for the diabetic population to ameliorate metabolic syndrome.

Topics: Animals; Cytokines; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Diet, High-Fat; Dyslipidemias; Hep G2 Cells; Humans; Hydrolyzable Tannins; Hyperglycemia; Hypoglycemic Agents; Kidney; Liver; Metabolic Syndrome; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; Signal Transduction; Streptozocin