4. Discussion
obesity, liver injury, overweight, glucose impairment, impaired fasting glycemia, cardiovascular and hepatic diseases, atherosclerosis, weight loss, dyslipidemia
OBESITY, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, ENDOTHELIAL DYSFUNCTION, LIVER, IMPAIRED GLUCOSE TOLERANCE, INCREASED TRIGLYCERIDES, INSULIN RESISTANCE, EVENTS, ATHEROSCLEROSIS, PATHOGENESIS, DYSLIPIDEMIA
Previously, we analyzed the effects of the nutraceutical AltilixFirstly, we analyzed and compared anthropometric variables among the subjects included in the study, as these parameters serve as basic components of validated algorithms for estimating the risk of cardiovascular and hepatic diseases. In our study, waist circumference and body weight decreased after 6 months in the Altilix group versus placebo, although the statistical significance was reached only for the latter. These results are in agreement with another study where overweight subjects with impaired fasting glycemia consuming an extract from Alongside the weight maintenance properties of Altilix, beneficial effects on glucose metabolism were also observed in the treated group compared to placebo. Indeed, in the present study, 6 months of AltilixThe three major components of dyslipidemia in the pre-obesity condition are increased triglyceride levels, decreased HDL-cholesterol, and changes in the composition of LDL-cholesterol. Since weight loss and improved insulin resistance are linked to an ameliorated dyslipidemia, we also tested the beneficial effects of Altilix against altered plasma lipid levels. On the other hand, our previous report showed that Altilix was able to reduce plasma lipid levels [Increased levels of hepatic enzymes ALT and AST can be common in pre-obesity, and their prevalence increases progressively with increasing BMI and the dyslipidemia condition. Liver enzyme levels tracked from childhood to adulthood are associated with an adverse cardiovascular profile in adulthood. Therefore, in the present investigation, we verified that he nutraceutical consumption is able to also counteract adverse metabolic conditions occurring in the liver of individuals with pre-obesity. Our results showed that the consumption of AltilixSince a normalization of dyslipidemia, glucose impairment and liver injury could be in turn responsible for atherosclerosis resolution, we wanted to investigate the effects of Altilix on the most used prognosis factors related to the onset and progression of atherosclerosis, such as endothelial functions and carotid IMT. Endothelial function is impaired in obesity and represents the earliest stage of clinical atherosclerosis. Abnormalities in endothelial function worsen with increased weight burden owing to several mechanisms associated with excess fat mass, including impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance and metabolic dysregulation, which play a key role in the evolution and clinical expression of cardiovascular disease. Although endothelial dysfunction is a strong predictor of cardiovascular events, restoring arterial homeostasis reduces vascular risk.In the present study, we showed that dietary Altilix consumption resulted in an increase in flow-mediated dilatation (∼5%) and, thus, an improvement of vascular function. Our findings differ from other observations in which acute administration of chlorogenic acid (400 mg) in healthy subjects did not affect flow-mediated dilatation [Several explanations may be proposed for our findings, including several mechanisms of antioxidant activity against insulin resistance and the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Therefore, we suggest that future studies should focus on investigating the biological mechanism of AltilixTo our knowledge, this is the first randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, clinical study evaluating the effect of Altilix