title: Dietary supplementation with d-tagatose in subjects with type 2 diabetes leads to weight loss and raises high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
abstract: 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 initially 12 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. tdonner1@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Thomas W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Donner
authors.forename: Laurence S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Magder
authors.forename: Kiarash
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zarbalian
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000378:metabolism*; D006601:Hexoses / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015431:Weight Loss / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; D006601:Hexoses; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; C030192:tagatose