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Anti-inflammatory, Anti-oxidant, and Vasodilating Effect of Evening Primrose Oil in Type 2 Diabetic Patients
Authors : Mustafa SafaaHussain1, Manal Khalid Abdulridha2*, Mahmood Shakir Khudhair
ABSTRACT Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is considered as the most common disease in modern societies. Natural products or compounds reported as useful remedies for controlling or preventing T2DM are categorized into five major groups: anti-inflammation products, AMPK activators, insulin secretion stimulators, alpha-glucosidase/disaccharidase or amylase inhibitors and products acting with an unknown mechanism. Evening primrose oil is a substantial source of omega-6 essential fatty acids, mostly gamma-linolenic acid (GLA). Linolenic acid (LA) forms GLA by Δ-6-desaturase enzyme. The activity of Δ-6-desaturase enzyme is compromised in patients with type 2diabetes. Accordingly, this study aims to evaluate the effect of evening primrose oil in reducing the complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Twenty Six Iraqi patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes who are either overweight or obese. Thirteen patients received metformin 500 mg tablets twice daily alone, and 13 patients received metformin 500 mg plus evening primrose oil 2 gm capsule twice daily for a three-month therapy. Serum hs-CRP, Tumor necrosis factor α, and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured. There was statistically significant elevation in baseline levels of serum MDA, hs-CRP, and TNF-α, and in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in both patient groups compared with control subjects, (P< 0.001). High reduction after three months of treatment was found in these parameters compared with a pre-treatment level, significantly with serum MDA, TNF-α, and in both systolic and diastolic BP in patients group receiving evening primrose oil (P< 0.001). It can be concluded that early intervention with natural oil rich in gamma linolenic acid, which possessanti-angiogenic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant activities, with traditional hypoglycemic drugs can improve therapeutic benefits and represent a promising strategy to restrain the progression of diabetes complications

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July – August 2016