Resveratrol doesn't improve insulin sensitivity

(HealthDay)—Resveratrol supplementation does not improve hepatic or peripheral insulin sensitivity among patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a study published online Oct. 7 in Diabetes Care.

Silvie Timmers, Ph.D., from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, and colleagues treated 17 subjects with well-controlled type 2 diabetes with placebo and 150 mg/day resveratrol in a randomized double-blind crossover study for 30 days.

The researchers found that hepatic and peripheral insulin sensitivity were not affected by resveratrol treatment. Resveratrol similarly did not affect intrahepatic lipid content, although the change in intrahepatic lipid content correlated negatively with plasma resveratrol levels. Resveratrol was also found to significantly improve ex vivo mitochondrial function.

"Our results question the generalized value of resveratrol as add-on therapy in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and emphasize the need to perform studies in drug-naive patients with type 2 diabetes or subjects with prediabetes," the authors write.

One author was employed by DSM Nutritional Products, which supplied the resveratrol and placebo capsules and performed the resveratrol and dihydroresveratrol analysis.