Berberine is effective and safe to mildly improve lipid profile in subjects with low risk for cardiovascular disease.

We evaluated the levels of some inflammatory adipocytokines in 363 obese and 365 non-obese subjects. We measured: body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), fasting plasma glucose, fasting plasma insulin (FPI), homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) index, blood pressure, lipid profile, retinol binding protein-4 (RBP-4), vaspin, omentin-1, leptin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), visfatin, resistin, adiponectin (ADN), adipsin, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP). We observed higher BMI, WC, FPI, HOMA index, TC, LDL-C, RBP-4, leptin, IL-6, adipsin, Hs-CRP, vaspin, resistin and TNF-α levels, and lower visfatin, and ADN levels in obese compared to non-obese subjects. Higher WC correlated with lower ADN and visfatin levels, and higher vaspin levels. Higher HOMA index correlated with higher resistin, adipsin, RBP-4, and leptin concentrations, while higher leptin levels correlated with higher TNF-α, Hs-CRP, and IL-6 concentration, and lower ADN values. We confirmed obese subjects' predisposition to develop dysmetabolic disease and hormonal dysfunctions.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a food supplement containing α-lipoic acid and of a placebo on glyco-metabolic control and on oxidative stress markers in type 2 diabetics. We randomized 105 diabetics to either a supplementation containing 600 mg of α-lipoic acid, 165 mg of L-carnosin, 7.5 mg of zinc, and vitamins of group B, or a placebo, for three months. We evaluated body mass index, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), post-prandial-glucose (PPG), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting plasma insulin (FPI), HOMA-index (HOMA-IR), lipid profile, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), malondialdehyde (MDA). There was a reduction of FPG, PPG, and HbA1c with the food supplement containing α-lipoic acid compared with a baseline, and with the placebo. Concerning lipid profile, we observed a reduction of LDL-C, and Tg with the food supplement, compared with both the baseline, and the placebo. There was a reduction of Hs-CRP with the food supplement containing α-lipoic acid, both compared with the baseline and the placebo. An increase of SOD, and GSH-Px, and a decrease of MDA were reached by the food supplement containing α-lipoic acid, both compared with the baseline and the placebo. We can conclude that the food supplement containing α-lipoic acid, L-carnosin, zinc, and vitamins of group B improved glycemic control, lipid profile, and anti-oxidative stress markers.

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