Health and well-being: ENEA study citrus fruits and vines against blood sugar
Nutraceutical products are underway which start from the active ingredients beneficial to health contained in foods, based on orange, lemon and red vine extracts. They were discovered by the working group led by Enea researchers, as part of the Med-Matrix-3 initiative, financed by the nutraceutical company Esserre. The preliminary results, as the researchers point out, are positive: The treatment of liver cells with some bioactive molecules of citrus fruits and red life is able to stimulate their ability to respond to circulating glucose levels. Preliminary results show that the treatment of liver cells with some bioactive molecules from citrus fruits and red grapes is able to stimulate their ability to respond to circulating glucose levels. Specifically, the different plant matrices seem to favor the intracellular uptake of glucose, resulting in a significant increase in glycogen content and an improvement in insulin resistance, explains Barbara Benassi, head of the ENEA Health and Environment Laboratory and co-author of the study together with her colleague Maria Pierdomenico and Costanza Riccioni, responsible for Esserre’s research and development activities. The research team studied insulin resistance using human liver cells treated with natural extracts to verify the hypoglycemic effect of anthocyanins and flavanones, beneficial molecules of which red vine and citrus fruits are very rich. Insulin resistance is a pathological state in which target cells, in particular liver, muscle and adipose tissue, do not respond to normal levels of circulating insulin, with consequent alteration of glucose and lipid balance (homeostasis). In terms of mechanism of action, often caused by the malfunctioning of the insulin receptor IRS-1; therefore, acting on this molecule through an innovative nutraceutical formulation could significantly contribute to improving insulin resistance, concludes the ENEA researcher. If further validated, notes Giovanni D’Agata, president of the Rights Desk, these experimental results would pave the way for the use of formulations based on flavonoids obtained from lemon, orange and red vine extracts as nutraceuticals for the control of blood sugar and for the treatment of insulin resistance in subjects at risk or who experience serious side effects associated with taking conventional hypoglycemic drugs.