Subject: Twenty-six (19men, 7 women) type 2 diabetes outpatients at Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan, were recruited in this study(Their glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels were in the range of 7.0–10.0% and the TG levels were lower than 400 mg/dL). The patients were free of kidney disease, heart disease or infectious illness, gastrointestinal disease, over obesity (body mass index (BMI)＞30) insulin and lipid metabolic medicine treatment, and were not smokers or antioxidant supplement users. And they were instructed to maintain their oral blood glucose-lowering medication, habitual eating, drinking, and lifestyle behavior. Only one subject in the XOS group was under diet therapy, while other subjects were taking oral hypoglycemic agents and no patient had started drug treatment just before the study.
Method: Participants were randomly assigned to either the supplementation with 4 g/d xylooligosaccharides(XOS)(n=14), or with the placebo (4 g/d glucose) (n=12) for 8 wk. Patients consumed the supplements in a split dose, half of the supplement at breakfast and the other half at dinner. Sample collections and measurements were conducted at baseline (week 0) and week 8; To evaluate the effect of xylooligosaccharide(XOS) on the blood sugar, lipids and oxidative status in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM).
Results: After 8 weeks of daily supplementation of XOS in the diet of diabetic patients, participants showed significant improvement in various indicators: Blood glucose concentration decreased by 8.0%; HbA1c decreased by 0.37%; Fructosamine decreased by 21.1%. In addition, plasma cholesterol and triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B concentrations also decreased by 13.9%, 24.8%, 5.1%, 17.0%. However, the XOS supplementation did not change the body weight, BMI, body fat, insulin, GOT, GPT, BUN or creatinine values.
In conclusion, the dietary supplementation with XOS for 8 wk was effective in improving the blood sugar and lipids in type 2 diabetes, indicating that XOS-containing diets might be beneficial to DM subjects.
Sheu W H, Lee I T, Chen W, et al. Effects of Xylooligosaccharides in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus[J]. Journal of Nutritional Science & Vitaminology, 2008, 54(5):396-401.
