effects of concentrated pomegranate juice on subclinical inflammation and cardiometabolic risk factors for type 2 diabetes: a quasi-experimental study

Background: the health benefits of pomegranate juice have been reported in several studies. however, limited clinical trials have examined the effects of concentrated pomegranate juice (cpj) on inflammatory factors. objectives: this study aimed to investigate the effects of cpj on metabolic risk factors, including inflammatory biomarkers, in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. patients and methods: in a quasi-experiment trial, 40 type 2 diabetic patients were asked to consume 50 g of cpj daily for 4 weeks. anthropometric indices, dietary intake, blood pressure measurements, and fasting blood samples were conducted at baseline and 4 weeks after the intervention. results: the intake of cpj produced a significant increase in both total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (hdl-c) (4.7% and 3.9%, respectively) from baseline (p < 0.05). however, changes that were observed in serum triglyceride (tg), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (ldl-c), fasting blood glucose, and blood pressure were not statistically significant. administration of cpj caused significant reduction in serum interleukin-6 (il-6) (p < 0.05), but tumor necrosis factor-α (tnf-α) and high-sensitivity c-reactive protein (hs-crp) remained unchanged during the study. the mean value of serum total antioxidant capacity (tac) was substantially increased (~ 75%) from 381.88 ± 114.4 at baseline to 1501 ± 817 after 4 weeks of cpj consumption. conclusions: consumption of cpj (50 g/day) appears to have favorable effects on some markers of subclinical inflammation, and to increase plasma concentrations of antioxidants in patients with type 2 diabetes.