| A B S T R A C T
Objectives: This study investigated the effect of French maritime pine bark extract (PBE) supplementation on
metabolic parameters, vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1), urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR),
and anthropometric indexes in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and microalbuminuria.
Design: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted on 46 patients with T2DM
and the evidence of microalbuminuria aged 30–65 years.
Setting: Patients were recruited from the endocrinology clinic of Sina hospital (Tabriz, Iran) from March 2018 to
April 2019.
Interventions: The subjects were randomly assigned to receive two capsules/day each containing 50mg of PBE or
placebo for eight weeks.
Main outcome measures: Glycemic parameters, serum VCAM-1 and lipid profile, UACR, and anthropometric indexes
were measured for all patients at baseline and the end of the study.
Results: PBE supplementation significantly reduced glycosylated hemoglobin, VCAM-1, total cholesterol, UACR,
waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio compared to the placebo group at the end of the study (all P <
0.05). Changes in fasting blood glucose, insulin, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and highdensity
lipoprotein cholesterol were not significant between the two groups (all P > 0.05).
Conclusions: The study findings demonstrated some favorable effects of PBE supplementation on glycemic control,
serum VCAM-1 and total cholesterol levels, and microalbuminuria, as well as abdominal obesity in patients
with T2DM. |