Herbal Artichoke Inhibits the Incidence of Metabolic Syndrome

By Kyle J. Norton

On seeking natural therapy with no side effects, scientists may have a herbal remedy for the prevention and treatment of metabolic syndrome, according to studies.

Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes, including excess body fat around the waist, elevated blood pressure, high triglycerides, elevated blood sugar, and low HDL cholesterol.

Individuals are considered to have metabolic syndrome if they process 3 or more of the aforementioned conditions.

Being overweight or obesity, lack of physical activity and Insulin resistance are some of the risk factors associated with the onset of metabolic syndrome.

Some researchers suggested that the promotion of the Western diet over the past few decades may be the major factors that cause widespread metabolic syndrome in the Western world.

Dr. Silvia Moreno-Fernández, the lead scientist in the cross-sectional study of diet pattern in risk of metabolic syndrome wrote, " At the end of the study, HFG animals showed lower expression of energy expenditure genes when compared to the other DIO groups. Oxidative stress biomarkers such as MDA and mitochondrial RT-qPCR analyses showed an increase of oxidative damage together with mitochondrial dysfunction in HFG group".

And, "This group also showed increased insulin and glucose plasma levels, though HFF animals showed the greatest increase on these parameters. All DIO groups showed increased plasma levels of triglycerides".

The finding strongly suggested the correlation between the Western diet and metabolic syndrome risk.

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 for as liver protective and detoxified agent, and to treat digestive disorders, abdominal pain gas and bloating, etc.

With an aim to find a natural ingredient for the treatment of metabolic syndrome, researchers examined the Artichoke leaf extract (ALE) anti-metabolic syndrome activity through its antioxidant activity.

The double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial included 80 patients with MetS randomly allocated to either "ALE group" (received 1800 mg ALE as four tablets per day) or "Placebo group" (received placebo containing cornstarch, lactose, and avicel as four tablets per day) for 12 weeks.

According to the results of 68 patients completed the experiment, dietary intakes of energy, macronutrients, and micronutrients were not significantly different between the two groups throughout the trial, with the exception of zinc.

However, the concentration of oxidative of low-density lipoprotein is decreased significantly in ALE group, compared to placebo without affecting the oxidative stress marker and antioxidant enzymes.

The finding strongly suggested that Artichoke leaf extract (ALE) only reversed one of the conditions of the cluster in metabolic syndrome, namely, hyperlipidemia.

Furthermore, in order to reveal more information of artichoke anti-metabolic syndrome effects, researchers evaluated the activity of Boldocynara®, a proprietary dietary supplement product consisting of the plants Cynara scolymus, Silybum marianum, Taraxacum officinale, and Peumus boldus.

Peumus boldus extract exhibited pronounced inhibitory activities on α-glucosidase (80% inhibition at 100 µg/ml, IC50: 17.56 µg/ml) involved the breaking down of carbohydrates.

Artichoke alone displayed a moderate inhibitory activity of 31% at 100 µg/ml.

According to the tested enzymes, the combination had moderate to weak effects against the expression of the metabolic syndrome.

The results indicated a moderate potential of the dietary supplement Boldocynara® and artichoke for the treatment of metabolic disorders.

Taken altogether, artichoke used alone or combined with other herbal medicines may have a potential effect against the onset 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.

References
(1) Antioxidant response to artichoke leaf extract supplementation in metabolic syndrome: A double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial by Rezazadeh K1, Aliashrafi S2, Asghari-Jafarabadi M3, Ebrahimi-Mameghani M. (PubMed)
(2) In vitro inhibitory potential of Cynara scolymus, Silybum marianum, Taraxacum officinale, and Peumus boldus on key enzymes relevant to metabolic syndrome by Villiger A1, Sala F1, Suter A2, Butterweck V. (PubMed)
(3) High Fat/High Glucose Diet Induces Metabolic Syndrome in an Experimental Rat Model by Silvia Moreno-Fernández,1,2 Marta Garcés-Rimón,3 Gema Vera,2,4 Julien Astier,5Jean François Landrier,5 and Marta Miguel. (PMC)