MOSCOW, March 13The possibility of using olive leaf extract for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus was proven by SUSU scientists as part of an international research team. They revealed significant antioxidant and hypoglycemic activity of this extract due to the high content of biologically active compounds that can successfully restore tissue of the pancreas and other organs. The results are presented in Antioxidants.
Diabetes is a serious chronic disease that develops when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Currently, there are two types of diabetes mellitus. Type 1 diabetes mellitus is insulin-dependent, which mainly affects young people under the age of 30.
Type 2 diabetes is non-insulin dependent. In such patients, insulin is produced, and by following a diet, using medications and leading an active lifestyle, they can ensure that the sugar level remains normal for quite a long time, and complications can be safely avoided.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of people suffering from diabetes in the world has quadrupled over the past 40 years. Without proper treatment, diabetes can lead to complications such as blindness, limb amputation, kidney failure, heart attack and stroke. In Russia, according to the Ministry of Health, more than 10 million people suffer from diabetes, in 95% of cases it is type 2 diabetes.
A team of scientists from South Ural State University (SUSU), together with colleagues from Malaysia and Egypt, have developed a drug from the leaves of the picual olive variety to maintain the health of body tissues in type 2 diabetes. The effectiveness of the leaf extract of this plant has been extensively studied both in vitro and in vivo.
Picual is the most common olive variety worldwide. Currently, olives of this variety are grown in areas of approximately 900,000 hectares, which are located mainly in the Spanish provinces of Jaén, Cordoba and Granada. The name of the variety comes from the sharp shape of the fruit.
Researchers have identified significant antioxidant and hypoglycemic activity of this extract due to the high content of biologically active compounds.
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“High levels of phenols and flavonoids, which play a key antioxidant role, were shown in extracts of three genotypes of olive leaves – picual, tofahi and shemlali (classic olive varieties sold in canned form), but it was the picual genotype that showed the greatest antioxidant activity,” said the co-author. work, professor of the department «Technology and organization of public catering» SUSU Al-Suhaimi Sobhi Ahmed Azab.
According to him, a histological study showed that olive leaf extract and its combination with the most widely used tableted hypoglycemic drug successfully restore liver, kidney and pancreatic tissue, bringing them closer to normal and maintaining functionality.
“In vivo experiments (within living tissue) showed that olive picual leaf extract restores blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin levels, lipid parameters and liver enzymes to normal levels,” the scientist noted.
At the same time, the professor added that the developed dietary supplement is made «from wasteful by-products of olive and olive oil production, which will be very cheap compared to other products on the market.» According to his estimates, the results of the current work have great potential for scaling up in any country in the world, especially where olive trees grow and are cultivated.
In the future, the team of authors plans to finalize the formulation of a dietary supplement (BAA) to normalize cholesterol levels, and also to develop a food supplement for the prevention of Alzheimer's disease.