Artichoke, the Potential Anti Metabolic Syndrome Natural Remedy, According to Medical Literature

By Kyle J. Norton


Scientists may have found a natural ingredient for the treatment of metabolic syndrome with no side effect, according to studies.

A metabolic syndrome is a group of syndromes or diseases associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and types 2 diabetes, including high blood pressure, sugar, cholesterol and triglyceride levels and excess body fat around the waist.

If you have 3 of the above syndrome you are considered to have metabolic syndrome.

According to statistics, metabolic syndrome is a growing prevalence of chronic conditions, accounting to 17% of all health care cost and directly contributing to the 43% of all deaths in Canada.

In other words, 1 in 5 people in Canada has metabolic syndrome, affecting 19.1% of all Canadian adults.

There are certain risk factors associated with the onset of metabolic syndrome besides the five mentioned above including age, family history of metabolic syndrome, physical activity, and women diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Untreated metabolic syndrome epidemiologically may induce complications of chronic illness such as atherosclerosis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and kidney diseases.

Some researchers suggested that metabolic syndrome and the widespread obesity in the US may be correlated as they share a hallmark of insulin resistance.

Dr. Keller KB in the differentiation of the metabolic syndrome in obese wrote, "Westernization of diets has been part of the problem. Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are being replaced by readily accessible foods high in saturated fat, sugar, and refined carbohydrates".

And, "The metabolic syndrome associated with abdominal obesity, which includes insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and elevated CRP levels, identifies subjects who have an increase in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Twenty to 25% of the adult population in the United States have the metabolic syndrome, and in some older groups this prevalence approaches 50%".

The results strongly suggested that both metabolic syndrome and obesity in the US population are attributed to the Western diet pattern.

In other words, by changing to a healthy diet such as traditional diet, the risk of obesity and metabolic syndrome can be decreased substantially.

Artichoke is a perennial thistle of Cynara cardunculus species of the Cynara genus, belonging to the family Carduoideae native to Southern Europe around the Mediterranean.

The herbal plant has been used in traditional medicine as a liver protective and detoxified agent, and to treat digestive disorders, abdominal pain gas and bloating, etc.


Scientists on finding a natural ingredient for the treatment of metabolic syndrome examined the long-term supplementation with dietary luteolin (LU)-enriched artichoke leaf (AR) in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and its complications in C57BL/6N mice.

Selected mice were fed a normal diet, an HFD, or an HFD plus AR or LU for 16 weeks.

In the HFD-fed mice, application of AR decreased the adiposity and dyslipidemia by decreasing lipogenesis.

Moreover, AR +LU prevented insulin sensitivity by decreasing the level of plasma gastric inhibitory polypeptide and activity of hepatic glucogenic enzymes and the proteins associated with liver inflammation,

Additional analysis of the effect of AR and LU suggested, although the anti-metabolic syndrome effects of AR and LU were similar, the anti-adiposity and anti-dyslipidemic effects of AR were more pronounced.

The findings strongly support the use of artichoke for the treatment of metabolic syndrome.

In order to know more information of artichoke anti-metabolic syndrome activity, researchers evaluated the protective effect of the ethanol leaves extract of C. scolymus in alloxan induced stress oxidant, hepatic-kidney dysfunction and histological changes in liver, kidney, and pancreas of different experimental groups of rats.

The total of 40 male Wistar rats included in the study were induced to diabetes with a single dose intraperitoneal injection (i.p.) of alloxan (150 mg/kg body weight (b.w.)), then the diabetic rats were orally and daily administrated of ethanol extract from C. scolymus at two doses (200-400 mg/kg, b.w) or (12 mg/kg, b.w) with anti-diabetic reference drug, Acarbose for one month.

In vivo, injection of the ethanol extracts from the leaves of C. scolymus (200-400 mg/kg) decreased significantly, the α-amylase levels in serum of diabetic rats associated with a significant reduction in blood glucose rate of 42,84% and 37,91% after 28 days of treatment.

The extracts also induced a significant lowered of plasma total cholesterol (T-Ch) by 18,11% and triglyceride (TG) by 60,47%, low-density lipoproteins (LDL-C) by 37,77%, compared to diabetic rats.

Oxidative stress markers in the liver, kidney, and pancreas also were reduced by the injection of the extracts.

The findings suggested the anti-metabolic syndrome of artichoke was attributed to its anti-hyperglycemic properties, at least partly mediated by antioxidant and hypolipidemic effects

Taken altogether, artichoke may be considered a functional remedy for the prevention and treatment of metabolic syndrome, pending to the confirmation of larger sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Luteolin-Enriched Artichoke Leaf Extract Alleviates the Metabolic Syndrome in Mice with High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity by Kwon EY1,2, Kim SY3, Choi MS. (PubMed)
(2) Protective effects of Cynara scolymus leaves extract on metabolic disorders and oxidative stress in alloxan-diabetic rats by Ben Salem M1, Ben Abdallah Kolsi R2, Dhouibi R1, Ksouda K1, Charfi S3, Yaich M4, Hammami S1, Sahnoun Z1, Zeghal KM1, Jamoussi K4, Affes H. (PubMed)
(3) Obesity and the metabolic syndrome by Keller KB1, Lemberg L. (PubMed)