Effect of Deer Antler Drink Supplementation on Blood Pressure, Blood Glucose and Lymphocyte DNA Damage in Type 2 Diabetic Patients.
- Author:
Hye Young KIM
1
;
Eun Jae JEON
;
Yoo Kyoung PARK
;
Myung Hee KANG
Author Information
1. Department of Food and Nutrition, Hannam University, Daejeon, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
deer antler drink;
type 2 diabetes;
oxidative DNA damage;
tail length;
DNA in tail;
tail moment
- MeSH:
Animals;
Antlers*;
Arthralgia;
Blood Glucose*;
Blood Pressure*;
Clinical Trial;
Deer*;
DNA Damage*;
DNA*;
Electrophoresis;
Humans;
Lymphocytes*;
Male;
Oxidative Stress
- From:The Korean Journal of Nutrition
2004;37(9):794-800
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
Deer Antler has been known for its traditional oriental medicinal properties and has been widely used to promote growth, boost immune function, treat blood loss and chronic joint pain. Recent study showed imported (New Zealand) Deer Antler was beneficial in reducing the side effects of cancer treatments. However, there was no intervention study conducted on the effect of Korean Deer Antler on reducing the oxidative stress to patients with diabetes. One of the sensitive ways to measure endogenous oxidative stress is by measuring cellular DNA damage using single cell gel electrophoresis (COMET assay). This study was conducted to investigate the possible beneficial effect of commercial Deer Antler drink (provided by Chung-yang Deer Farm) on lymphocyte DNA damage and blood glucose of diabetic patients. Ten patients (4 men, 6 women) participated in the study and consumed 2 pouches of Deer Antler drink every day for 20 days. Blood was collected on the morning before and after the intervention for lymphocyte isolation and blood glucose analysis. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure showed a tendency to decrease but did not reach statistical significance after the trial. Blood glucose level was not affected by the supplementation. After the intervention, over 50% reduction were noted in the cellular DNA damage, expressed as tail length (TL) and tail moment (TM; tail length x percent tail DNA). Although we did not obtain beneficial effect on lowering blood glucose levels in the patients, this results suggest that Deer Antler may initially act in protecting endogenous DNA damage in short-term experiment.
