Saskatoon Berry on Metabolism and Gut Microbiota in Healthy Subjects

Summary

Diabetes becomes epidemic in worldwide countries. Nine out of ten diabetic patients are type 2 diabetes (T2D). T2D is characterized by insulin resistance and obesity. Uncontrolled diabetes leads to serious consequences including heart attack, stroke, chronic renal failure, liver failure, blindness and low limb amputation. Most of hypoglycemic medications have side effects. Natural foods or nutraceuticals with hypoglycemic potential are expected to provide a safer management for diabetic patients. Saskatoon berry is a popular fruit in Canadian Prairie and Northern states in USA. Our recent studies demonstrated Saskatoon berry (SB) powder attenuated hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, insulin resistance, inflammation, liver steatosis and gut dysbiosis in diet-induced insulin resistant mice, a model for T2D. The results in anti-diabetic activities of SB powder have been supported by other groups in high fat fed rats. Our preliminary studies in 20 healthy subjects demonstrated that dried whole SB (40 g/day for 10 weeks) significantly reduced fasting plasma glucose, total and LDL-cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, and increased plasma glucagon-like peptide compared to baseline, which was associated with increased intake of total fiber and decreased intake of saturated fat. The changes in metabolic and vascular variables significantly correlated with the alterations in gut microbiota. The combination of findings suggest that Saskatoon berry is good candidate of prebiotic functional food as a supplemental remedy for reducing the risk for metabolic syndrome and preventing or managing T2D. The effect of Saskatoon berry and its products on metabolic disorders have not been studied in healthy human subjects. We propose to examine the effects of oral administration of freeze-dried whole SB on glucose metabolism, insulin resistance and gut microbiota in healthy subjects in a single arm, open labeled phase I clinical trial.

Conditions

• Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases

Interventions

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Saskatoon berry

Freeze dried Saskatoon berry (30 g) will be orally administrated daily for 10 weeks.

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Dried Saskatoon berry

Prediabetic patients (fasting glucose 5.6-6.9 mM/L, HbA1c 5.7-6.9%, or OGTT 2 h glucose 7.8-11 mM/L) will be randomized in two groups. One group participants will take 40g of dried Saskatoon berry/day for 12 weeks. Another group will take 40g of dried Saskatoon berry/day for 12 weeks,

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Health Sciences Centre Foundation, Manitoba

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Manitoba

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Garry Shen, PhD · University of Manitoba

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

75 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2023-01-08

Primary Completion

2026-12-20

Completion

2026-12-20

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations