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The effect of synbiotics pomegranate juice on cardiovascular risk factors in PCOS patients: a randomized, triple-blinded, controlled trial

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Abstract

Purpose

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common metabolic and endocrine disorders. Functional foods like pomegranate and probiotics are those that are considered to have beneficial effects on metabolic diseases beyond their basic nutritional value. So, we aimed to evaluate the effect of synbiotic pomegranate juice (SPJ) on cardiovascular risk factors on PCOS patients.

Methods

This was a randomized, triple-blinded, 8-week trial. Participants were randomly assigned to receive 300 mL/day of pomegranate juice (PJ), synbiotic beverage (SB), synbiotic pomegranate juice (SPJ), or placebo beverage (PB). Biochemical indices (lipid profile, Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC), Malondialdehyde (MDA), high sensitive C-Reactive Protein (hs-CRP)) and blood pressure were assessed before and after the intervention.

Results

Participants in the PJ, SB, and SPJ groups experienced improvement in their lipid profile, oxidative stress, inflammation, and blood pressure during the time. Compared to placebo, Total Cholesterol (TC) was lower in the SB group (P < 0.01), LDL-c was lower in the SPJ and SB groups (P < 0.01), and HDL-c was higher in the SPJ and PJ groups (P < 0.01). With regards to oxidative stress and inflammation, when compared with placebo, MDA was lower in the SPJ, SB, and PJ groups (P < 0.001), TAC was increased in the SPJ and PJ groups (P\(<\) 0.001), and hs-CRP was decreased in the PJ group (P = 0.02). Blood pressure (BP) was lower in the SPJ and PJ groups compared to placebo (P < 0.001; P < 0.01, respectively).

Conclusions

Consuming daily SPJ for 8 weeks improved metabolic, oxidative, inflammatory, and BP outcomes in females with PCOS. This trial was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT20170207032439N2).

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The authors would like to thank the patients who participated in this trial.

Funding

The present article was extracted from the thesis written by Zahra Esmaeilinezhad. This article was financially supported by Shiraz University of Medical Sciences grants No12983. The author declared that they have no other relevant financial interest.

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Author notes

  1. Zahra Esmaeilinezhad and Reza Barati-Boldaji have equally contributed to this article

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nutrition Research Center, School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Razi Blvd, Shiraz, Iran

    Z. Esmaeilinezhad, R. Barati-Boldaji, S. Babajafari & Z. Sohrabi

  2. School of Nutrition, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada

    N. R. Brett & N. Bellissimo

  3. Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies, University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada

    J. O. T. de Zepetnek

Authors
  1. Z. Esmaeilinezhad
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  2. R. Barati-Boldaji
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  3. N. R. Brett
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Correspondence to S. Babajafari.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict ofinterest.

Ethical approval

This study was reviewed and approved by the ethics committee of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Iran and was registered in the Iranian registry of clinical trials (IRCT No.: IRCT20170207032439N2).

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All participants provided written informed consent prior to enrolling in the study.

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Esmaeilinezhad, Z., Barati-Boldaji, R., Brett, N.R. et al. The effect of synbiotics pomegranate juice on cardiovascular risk factors in PCOS patients: a randomized, triple-blinded, controlled trial. J Endocrinol Invest 43, 539–548 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-019-01139-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-019-01139-x

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