The effects of oral trehalose on glycaemia, inflammation, and quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: Trehalose is a naturally occurring disaccharide of 2 glucose molecules, which has been suggested as a potential therapeutic agent to reduce blood glucose and ameliorate diabetes-related complications in type 2 diabetes (T2D). This study aimed to determine the efficacy of medium-term trehalose treatment in patients with T2D.

Material And Methods: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 40 patients with T2D was undertaken; 20 ingested trehalose 3.3 g/day and 20 placebo (sucrose), for 3 months. Parameters of glycaemic indices, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), mood status, and quality of life were measured.

Results: CRP was significantly lower with trehalose treatment (-0.62 ±0.3 mg/l, = 0.02); however, no differences in glycaemic indices of fasting blood glucose (FBG) (-7.1 ±10.7 mg/dl, = 0.15), glycated hemoglobin (HbA) (-0.1 ±0.4%, = 0.73), insulin (0.73 ±0.8 μU/ml, = 0.39), or insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (0.19 ±0.33, = 0.56) were seen between groups after 12 weeks. Depression and stress scores were lower with trehalose compared to the placebo group ( = 0.02 and = 0.05, respectively), whilst the quality-of-life score was higher with trehalose compared to placebo ( = 0.03) at the end of study. Between-group differences in these indices did not reach statistical significance (-2.36 ±1.20, -2.21 ±1.39 and 3.00 ±1.76 for depression, stress, and quality-of-life score, respectively) ( > 0.05). The pro-oxidant antioxidant balance (PAB) did not differ between groups (-4.6 ±12.8, = 0.72).

Conclusions: 12 weeks of treatment with 3.3 g/day of oral trehalose significantly improves CRP as a marker of inflammation, with potential favourable effects on quality of life, depression, and stress levels, but overall glycaemic control and pro-oxidant-antioxidant balance were unaltered during this time frame.