IMPACT OF GINGER SUPPLEMENTATION ON BLOOD PRESSURE AND GLUCOSE LEVELS IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE.

BACKGROUND

Chronic inflammation relates type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) to cardiovascular disease (CVD), which causes insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant compound can change the cardiometabolic parameters. This paper will investigate how ginger supplementation influences the blood pressure of patients with CVD and T2DM, glucose levels, and inflammatory markers.

METHODS

A prospective interventional before-after study with a healthy reference control group was conducted involving 80 participants aged 27-44 years with mild dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia and hypertension, placed in a control group (n=40) or an intervention group (n=40) where ginger infusion was administered two times a day in 4 months. Lipid profiles (total cholesterol, LDL-C, HDL-C, VLDL-C, triglycerides), glucose of the fasting sample, and oral markers of inflammation (hs-CRP, IL-6, PCT) were defined at second and ninth week, respectively using Roche Cobas analyzers. They were done with paired t-tests, and significance at p<0.05.

RESULTS

The intervention group showed significant reductions in hs-CRP (20.5%, 4.69±0.27 to 3.73±0.14 mg/L, p < 0.01) and IL-6 (25.2%, 7.35±0.33 to 5.50±0.20 pg/mL, p < 0.01), PCT (0.05±0.00 vs. 0.07±0.00 ng/ml). Lipid profiles improved, with LDL-C reduced by 6.7% (172.63±2.31 to 161.05±2.50 mg/dL, p<0.01), VLDL-C by 17.9% (44.69±1.19 to 36.71±1.10 mg/dL, p<0.01), total cholesterol by 18.6% (255.00±4.65 to 207.48±6.12 mg/dL, p<0.01), and triglycerides by 13.6% (222.25±4.49 to 191.90±4.49 mg/dL, p<0.01). Fasting glucose decreased significantly (p<0.01). PCT levels remained unchanged.

CONCLUSION

Ginger supplementation is a powerful way to reduce inflammatory markers, lipid levels, and glycemic control in individuals with T2DM and CVD, which means that it can be used as an adjunctive treatment to control cardiometabolic risk and should be the subject of more large-scale studies.