Original Communication
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2005) 59, 384–392. doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602085 Published online 22 December 2004
Effects of single and long-term administration of wheat albumin on blood glucose control: randomized controlled clinical trials
Guarantor: S Inoue.
Contributors: This study was designed by TK and SI. SI, YN, JS and YT contributed to the subject recruiting and clinical data collection. TK, TM and IK carried out in vitro experiments and sample preparation. YS contributed to the manuscript preparation. SI was the main person responsible for all stages of the study.
T Kodama1, T Miyazaki2, I Kitamura3, Y Suzuki1, Y Namba4, J Sakurai5, Y Torikai5 and S Inoue5
- 1Nisshin Pharma Inc., Tokyo, Japan
- 2Nisshin Foods Inc., Tokyo, Japan
- 3Nisshin Seifun Group Inc., Tokyo, Japan
- 4Department of Geriatrics, School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- 5Department of Nutrition and Physiology, Graduate School of Home Economics, Kyoritsu Women's University, Tokyo, Japan
Correspondence: S Inoue, Department of Nutrition and Physiology, Graduate School of Home Economics, Kyoritsu Women's University, 2-2-1, Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8433, Japan. E-mail: ishuji@s1.kyoritsu-wu.ac.jp
Received 8 January 2004; Revised 27 July 2004; Accepted 28 September 2004; Published online 22 December 2004.
Abstract
Objective:
To examine the effects of single and long-term administration of wheat albumin (WA) on blood glucose levels and blood glucose control, respectively.
Design:
Randomly arranged crossover trial for single administration in healthy subjects and double-blinded randomized controlled trial for long-term administration (3 months) in diabetic patients. In vitro 
-amylase inhibitory activity of WA was also determined.
Setting:
Central Research Laboratories of Nisshin Flour Milling Co. Ltd. (Saitama, Japan) for single administration and Aiwa Clinic (Saitama, Japan) for long-term administration.
Subjects:
A total of 12 healthy adult male volunteers for the single administration and 24 type II outpatient diabetics with mild hyperglycemia for the long-term administration.
Interventions:
Subjects took soups containing 0, 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 g WA before test meals for single administration, and patients took soups with or without 0.5 g WA before every meal for the long-term (3 months) administration.
Results:
In vitro -amylase inhibitory activity of WA was 150 times that of wheat flour. In the single administration experiment, WA suppressed peak postprandial blood glucose levels in a dose-dependent manner: 31, 47, and 50% reduction after 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 g administrations, respectively. In the long-term administration, 0.5 g of WA did not affect fasting blood glucose levels, whereas it reduced hemoglobin A1c levels. No significant adverse effects such as hypoglycemia or gastrointestinal disturbances were observed in the two experiments.
Conclusion:
In the treatment of type II diabetic patients, WA might be a useful functional food, which, with diet and exercise, could help to improve blood glucose control without any critical adverse effects.
Keywords:
wheat albumin, -amylase inhibitor, diabetes mellitus, postprandial blood glucose, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c)
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated
NEWS AND VIEWS
Human therapeutic proteins from silkworms
Nature Biotechnology Research News (01 Jan 2003)
