Dietary supplementation with d-tagatose in subjects with type 2 diabetes leads to weight loss and raises high-density lipoprotein cholesterol

• Published in: Nutrition research (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 30; no. 12; pp. 801 - 806
• Main Authors: Donner, Thomas W., Magder, Laurence S., Zarbalian, Kiarash
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.12.2010; Tarrytown, N.Y.: Elsevier Science Inc; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; blood glucose; blood lipids; Bulk sweeteners; Cholesterol, HDL - blood; D-tagatose; Diabetes control; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - blood; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - drug therapy; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - physiopathology; Diabetes. Impaired glucose tolerance; Dietary Supplements; disease control; Drug Therapy, Combination; Endocrine pancreas. Apud cells (diseases); Endocrinopathies; Female; food intake; Gastroenterology and Hepatology; Gastrointestinal Diseases - etiology; Glycated Hemoglobin A - metabolism; glycemic control; glycemic effect; glycohemoglobin; HDL cholesterol; Hexoses - pharmacology; Hexoses - therapeutic use; high density lipoprotein; Humans; Hypoglycemic Agents - pharmacology; Hypoglycemic Agents - therapeutic use; Lipid modification; Male; Management. Various non-drug treatments. Langerhans islet grafts; Medical sciences; men; Middle Aged; noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus; nonnutritive sweeteners; nutritional intervention; Pilot Projects; Tagatose; weight loss; Weight Loss - drug effects; Weight loss agents; women; Weight loss agents; Bulk sweeteners; GlyHb; LDL; d-Tag; DM; Tagatose; Diabetes control; CHD; Lipid modification; HDL cholesterol; diabetes mellitus; low-density lipoprotein; d-tagatose; glycated hemoglobin; coronary heart disease; Endocrinopathy; Type 2 diabetes; Human; Weight loss; Metabolic diseases; Lipids; Diet therapy; Cholesterol HDL; Food intake; Sweetener; Supplementation; Lipoprotein HDL
• ISSN: 0271-5317; 1879-0739; 1879-0739
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nutres.2010.09.007

Oral d-tagatose ( d-tag) attenuates the rise in plasma glucose during an oral glucose tolerance test in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and reduces food intake in healthy human subjects. A reduction in food consumption and less weight gain occur in rats fed tagatose. This pilot study explored the metabolic effects of d-tag given daily to 8 human subjects with type 2 DM for 1 year. We hypothesized that this treatment period would lead to weight loss and improvements in glycated hemoglobin and the lipid profile. A 2-month run-in period was followed by a 12-month treatment period when 15 g of oral d-tag was taken 3 times daily with food. No serious adverse effects were seen during the 12-month treatment period. Ten of the initially12 recruited subjects experienced gastrointestinal side effects that tended to be mild and transient. When 3 subjects were excluded who had oral diabetes, medications added and/or dosages increased during the study and mean (SD) body weight declined from 108.4 (9.0) to 103.3 (7.3) kg ( P = .001). Glycated hemoglobin fell nonsignificantly from 10.6% ± 1.9% to 9.6% ± 2.3% ( P = .08). High-density lipoprotein cholesterol progressively rose from a baseline level of 30.5 ± 15.8 to 41.7 ± 12.1 mg/dL at month 12 in the 6 subjects who did not have lipid-modifying medications added during the study ( P < .001). Significant improvements in body weight and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in this pilot study suggest that d-tag may be a potentially useful adjunct in the management of patients with type 2 DM.