1999 Volume 52 Issue 5 Pages 293-300
Wheat albumin (WA), which has inhibitory activity against human pancreatic and salivary amylases, delays carbohydrate digestion and suppresses postprandial hyperglycemia. In order to investigate the chronic effects of WA on HbA1c and other clinical indices, soup containing 1.0g WA (248mg 0.19-albumin) or no added supplement was given to patient with mild non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) for 3 months under double-blind conditions. The WA-administered and control groups were divided into 2 subgroups; Low (HbA1c≤5.5), and High (5.5<HbA1c≤8.0) HbA1c groups, according to the HbA1c values at the start. In the control groups, there was no significant change in HbA1c. In the WA-administered groups, the AUC (area under the curve) of HbA1c decreased only in the High HbA1c group. No adverse reactions, e.g., gastrointestinal symptoms and abnormalities of blood chemical data, were observed over the study period, except for one patient in the WA-administered group who complained of borborygmus on the first and second days of administration. These results indicate that chronic suppression of postprandial hyperglycemia by WA in mild NIDDM results in improvement of HbA1c.
