Plant extracts emerging as weapon against metabolic syndrome

Botanicals are thought to offer strong potential against metabolic syndrome as most derive their effectiveness from a mixture of active molecules acting at the same time. Scientists believe that they could find a plant containing multiple agents that reach the numerous different targets of metabolic syndrome.

According to the most recent definition, drawn up by experts from around the world, people with the metabolic syndrome have central obesity, plus two of four additional factors: raised triglycerides, reduced HDL cholesterol, raised blood pressure, or raised fasting plasma glucose level.

At Vitafoods in Geneva this month, Italian plant extract firm Indena introduced Madeglucyl, produced from the seeds of Eugenia jambolana (also known as Syzygium cumini), an edible plant used as a remedy in Madagascar folk medicine.

It has licensed the extract from a Madagascar institution that has completed a package of toxicological and clinical work on the product, which also has a history of consumption in Europe. Human clinical trials on Madeglucyl done in Madagascar, the US and Germany, have shown that it has a significant effect on blood glucose levels 15 days after starting the treatment.

Extracted from seeds of the plant, each batch of the supplement is said to have at least 20 per cent reduction on glucose levels in rats.

Its EFLA943 olive leaf has shown a strong effect on lowering blood pressure levels in a published animal study and a new clinical trial, not yet published, has confirmed the effects on humans. There is however also some animal data showing its effects on blood sugar levels and it could also help with cholesterol levels by increasing antioxidant levels in the blood.

Media attention is set to increase as the scale of the problem becomes clear. People with metabolic syndrome are twice as likely to die from, and three times as likely to have a heart attack or stroke compared to people without the syndrome. People with metabolic syndrome also have a fivefold greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes, if it is not already present.

This puts metabolic syndrome and diabetes way ahead of HIV/AIDS in morbidity and mortality terms yet the problem is not as well recognised, according to the International Diabetes Federation.

20/05/2005 - Plants hold the power to keep the increasing prevalence of metabolic syndrome, a collection of chronic disease symptoms, in check, according to scientists, prompting the leading plant extract firms to start developing a whole new category of natural products, writes Dominique Patton.