Effects of cinnamon supplementation on expression of systemic inflammation factors, NF-kB and Sirtuin-1 (SIRT1) in type 2 diabetes: a randomized, double blind, and controlled clinical trial

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: NF-kB, SIRT1 and systemic inflammation factors including hs-CRP, IL-6 and TNF-α accelerate atherosclerosis pathogenesis. Our purpose was to evaluate the effect of daily supplementation of three-gram cinnamon on plasma levels of NF-kB, SIRT, hs-CRP, IL-6 and TNF-α among type 2 diabetes patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A randomized, double blind, and controlled clinical trial was performed with 44 adult patients who were 25 to 70 years old with type 2 diabetes, randomized to two intervention (n = 22) and control (n = 22) groups differing by daily three grams cinnamon supplementation and placebo for 8 weeks, respectively. The plasma levels of NF-kB, SIRT, hs-CRP, IL-6 and TNF-α were measured by ELISA assay at the beginning and end of the study. RESULTS: After 8-week intervention, 39 subjects (n = 20 in the cinnamon and n = 19 in the placebo groups) ended up the trial. It was not observed significant difference in levels of hs-CRP (P = 0.29), TNF-α (P = 0.27), IL-6 (P = 0.52), and Sirtuin-1 (P = 0.51) in between group comparison. While, the result showed significant difference in levels of NF-kB (P = 0.02) between groups. As well as, in among group comparison, there was not observed significant differences except in hs-CRP (P = 0.008) in placebo group. CONCLUSIONS: This study elucidated that cinnamon supplementation has no beneficial effects in reduction of NF-kB, SIRT1, hs-CRP, IL-6 and TNF-α levels in type 2 diabetes patients which have a considerable role in development of atherogenesis.