No Beneficial Effects of Resveratrol on the Metabolic Syndrome: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2017 May 1;102(5):1642-1651. doi: 10.1210/jc.2016-2160.

Abstract

Context: Low-grade inflammation is associated with obesity and the metabolic syndrome (MetS). Preclinical evidence suggests that resveratrol (RSV) has beneficial metabolic and anti-inflammatory effects that could have therapeutic implications.

Objective: To investigate effects of long-term RSV treatment on inflammation and MetS.

Setting and design: A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel group clinical trial conducted at Aarhus University Hospital.

Participants: Middle-aged community-dwelling men (N = 74) with MetS, 66 of whom completed all visits (mean ± standard error of the mean): age, 49.5 ± 0.796 years; body mass index, 33.8 ± 0.44 kg/m2; waist circumference, 115 ± 1.14 cm.

Intervention: Daily oral supplementation with 1000 mg RSV (RSVhigh), 150 mg RSV, or placebo for 16 weeks.

Main outcome measures: Plasma levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), circulating lipids, and inflammatory markers in circulation and adipose/muscle tissue biopsy specimens; glucose metabolism; and body composition including visceral fat and ectopic fat deposition.

Results: RSV treatment did not lower circulating levels of hs-CRP, interleukin 6, or soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor in plasma, and inflammatory gene expression in adipose and muscle tissues also remained unchanged. RSV treatment had no effect on blood pressure, body composition, and lipid deposition in the liver or striated muscle. RSV treatment had no beneficial effect on glucose or lipid metabolism. RSVhigh treatment significantly increased total cholesterol (P < 0.002), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (P < 0.006), and fructosamine (P < 0.013) levels compared with placebo.

Conclusion: RSV treatment did not improve inflammatory status, glucose homeostasis, blood pressure, or hepatic lipid content in middle-aged men with MetS. On the contrary, RSVhigh significantly increased total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and fructosamine levels compared with placebo.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01412645.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

  • Absorptiometry, Photon
  • Adipose Tissue / immunology
  • Adipose Tissue / metabolism
  • Antioxidants / therapeutic use*
  • Blood Glucose / metabolism
  • Blood Pressure
  • Blotting, Western
  • Body Composition
  • C-Reactive Protein / immunology
  • Cholesterol / metabolism
  • Cholesterol, HDL / metabolism
  • Cholesterol, LDL / metabolism
  • Double-Blind Method
  • Fructosamine / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Insulin / metabolism
  • Insulin Resistance
  • Interleukin-6 / immunology
  • Intra-Abdominal Fat / diagnostic imaging
  • Intra-Abdominal Fat / metabolism
  • Leptin / metabolism
  • Liver / diagnostic imaging
  • Liver / metabolism
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Male
  • Metabolic Syndrome / drug therapy*
  • Metabolic Syndrome / immunology
  • Metabolic Syndrome / metabolism
  • Middle Aged
  • Muscle, Skeletal / diagnostic imaging
  • Muscle, Skeletal / immunology
  • Muscle, Skeletal / metabolism
  • Quadriceps Muscle / immunology
  • Quadriceps Muscle / metabolism
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Receptors, Urokinase Plasminogen Activator / metabolism
  • Resveratrol
  • Stilbenes / therapeutic use*
  • Triglycerides / metabolism

Substances

  • Antioxidants
  • Blood Glucose
  • Cholesterol, HDL
  • Cholesterol, LDL
  • IL6 protein, human
  • Insulin
  • Interleukin-6
  • Leptin
  • Receptors, Urokinase Plasminogen Activator
  • Stilbenes
  • Triglycerides
  • Fructosamine
  • C-Reactive Protein
  • Cholesterol
  • Resveratrol

Associated data

  • ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT01412645