Document Type : Research articles

Authors

• Narjes Khavasi ¹
• Mohammadhossein Somi ²
• Ebrahim Khadem ³
• Mohammad Hossein Ayati ³
• Mohamadali Torbati ⁴
• Seyyed Muhammad Bagher Fazljou ¹

¹ Department of Traditional Medicine, Faculty of Traditional Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, IR Iran

² Liver and Gastrointestinal Diseases Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, IR Iran

³ Department of Traditional Medicine, School of Traditional Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran

⁴ Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Nutrition, Tabriz University of Medical, Tabriz, IR Iran

Abstract

Background: Despite a number of studies on the effects of complementary medicine products, the effects of caper fruit pickle (CFP), as Iranian traditional medicine (ITM), is not clear in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
Objectives: The current study aimed at assessing the effect of the CFP on anthropometric measures and some atherogenic indices in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods: A 12-week randomized, controlled, double-blind trial was conducted on 44 patients with NAFLD via block randomization
method assigned to either the control (n = 22) or the CFP (n = 22) groups, from March to October 2016 in Zanjan city, Iran. The CFP group received 40 - 50 g of the CFP with daily meals. Before and after the treatment, anthropometric measures, serum lipoprotein ratios, and liver enzymes were assessed. Results: After 12 weeks, weight and waist circumference significantly decreased both in the CFP (P < 0.001) and control groups (P = 0.001 and P = 0.03), respectively. Adjusted to the baseline measures, the a mean difference of alanine aminotransferase (ALT)
(P = 0.04), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL.C/HDL.C) (P = 0.001), triglyceride/HDL.C (TG/HDL.C) (P < 0.001) and total cholesterol/HDL.C (TC/HDL.C) (P = 0.001) decreased more significantly in the CFP than the control group at the end of the study. Conclusions: The current study results suggested that daily consumption of the CFP for 12 weeks may potentially prevent cardio- vascular complications in patients with NAFLD. Further studies are needed to confirm the findings.

Keywords

• Atherogenic
• Caper Fruit
• Capparis
• Fatty
• Index
• Non- Alcoholic
• Pickle
• Traditional Medicine