[Effect of oral inulin administration on lipid profile and insulin sensitivity in subjects with obesity and dyslipidemia].

BACKGROUND

Inulin is a non absorbable polysaccharide with prebiotic effects, whose influence on blood lipids or insulin sensitivity is not well known:

OBJECTIVE

To assess the effect of oral administration of inulin on lipid profile and insulin sensitivity in dyslipidemic obese subjects.

METHODS

A clinical trial, double blind, randomized with placebo was carried out in 12 obese, hypertrygliceridemic and hypercholesterolemic subjects between 19 and 32 years old. The subjects were randomized to receive 7 g/day of inulin or placebo in the morning, during 4 weeks. Biochemical and metabolic profiles and euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp technique for assessing insulin sensitivity, before and after pharmacological intervention were performed.

RESULTS

After inulin administration, there was a significant reduction of total cholesterol (248.7 +/- 30.5 and 194.3 +/- 39.8 mg/dL; p = 0.028), low density lipoprotein (LDL), cholesterol (136.0 +/- 27.8 and 113.0 +/- 36.2 mg/dL; p = 0.028), very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) (45.9 +/- 18.5 and 31.6 +/- 7.2 mg/dL; p = 0.046) and trygliceride concentrations (235.5 +/- 85.9 and 171.1 +/- 37.9 mg/dL; p = 0.046). No effect of inulin on insulin sensitivity was observed.

CONCLUSIONS

The oral inulin administration reduced total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, VLDL and trygliceride levels in dyslipidemic and obese subjects, without modifications in the insulin sensitivity.