The effect of hesperidin supplementation on metabolic profiles in patients with metabolic syndrome: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial

Hesperidin as an antioxidant flavonoid exerts anti-adipogenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-hypercholesterolemic effects. Besides, the increasing prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its allied complications, on the one hand, and the willingness of individuals to use natural products for curing their diseases, on the other hand, led to the design of this study to evaluate the efficacy of hesperidin in normalizing the metabolic abnormalities in patients with MetS. In this clinical trial with a parallel-group design, 49 patients with MetS received either 500-mg hesperidin or placebo, twice daily, for 12 weeks. Number of participants with treated MetS was considered as a primary end point. Anthropometric parameters, dietary intake, physical activity, lipid profile, glucose homeostasis parameter, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were assessed at the beginning and at the end of the study. This trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03734874. Compared with the placebo group, hesperidin decreased fasting glucose level (− 6.07 vs. − 13.32 mg/dL, P = 0.043), triglyceride (− 8.83 vs. − 49.09 mg/dL, P = 0.049), systolic blood pressure (− 0.58 vs. − 2.68 mmHg, P = 0.048) and TNF-α (− 1.29 vs. − 4.44 pg/mL, P = 0.009). Based on the within-group analysis, hesperidin led to significant decrease in serum levels of glucose, insulin, triglyceride, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, TNF-α and hs-CRP, while in control group only glucose and insulin significantly decreased. The results indicate that hesperidin supplementation can improve metabolic abnormalities and inflammatory status in patients with MetS.