Different parts of the Moringa oleifera Lam. (MO) tree are consumed as food or food supplements for their nutritional and medicinal value; however, very few human studies have been published on the topic. The current work was aimed to provide ancillary analysis to the antidiabetic effects previously reported in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel group intervention conducted in patients with prediabetes. Thus, the effect of MO leaves on blood and fecal inflammatory markers, serum lipid profile, plasma antioxidant capacity and blood pressure was studied in participants who consumed 6 × 400 mg capsule/day of MO dry leaf powder (MO, n = 31) or placebo (PLC, n = 34) over 12 weeks. Differences between groups were assessed using each biomarker's change score with, adjustment for fat status and the baseline value. In addition, a decision tree analysis was performed to find individual characteristics influencing the glycemic response to MO supplementation. No differences in the biomarker's change scores were found between the groups; however, the decision tree analysis revealed that plasma TNF-α was a significant predictor of the subject's HbA1c response (improvement YES/NO; 77% correct classification) in the MO group. In conclusion, TNF-α seems to be a key factor to identify potential respondents to MO leaf powder.
Keywords: Moringa oleifera Lam.; blood pressure; fecal calprotectin; food supplement; glycemic control; inflammatory markers; prediabetes; serum lipid profile; total antioxidant capacity.