Efficacy of Argane oil on metabolic syndrome in a Moroccan knee osteoarthritis population.

Five medical conditions which characterize metabolic syndrome are abdominal obesity, elevated blood pressure, elevated fasting plasma glucose, high serum triglycerides, and low highdensity lipoproteins cholesterol. When a patient has any three of the five above conditions, he is known to have metabolic syndrome, and these conditions represent a key element in cardiovascular diseases. On the other hand, knee osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease which was shown to be affected by some of the parameters of metabolic syndrome. Edible Argane oil is used in Moroccan folk medicine against several health conditions, such as knee osteoarthritis, though, evidence-based medical data about the above health benefit from Argane oil treatment are lacking. In the present clinical controlled study, we have found that consumption of Argane oil by 38 patients who have knee osteoarthritis and metabolic syndrome can improve several of their metabolic syndrome parameters and decrease their blood lipid atherogenic ratios. The present clinical study, to the best of our knowledge, is the first one to show that Argane oil consumption could be a therapeutic preventive tool against key cardiovascular risk factors of metabolic syndrome in knee osteoarthritis patients.