Does pomegranate consumption improve oxidative stress? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials.

Elnaz Lorzadeh, Zahra Heidary, Mohammad Mohammadi, Azadeh Nadjarzadeh, Nahid Ramezani-Jolfaie, Amin Salehi-Abargouei

Journal: Clinical nutrition ESPEN 2022;47():117-127

PMID: 35063191

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Oxidative stress is related to many chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cancers, hypertension, and heart diseases. Antioxidant activity of pomegranate due to high content of polyphenols, flavonoids, and several other types of antioxidant compounds has been of interest; however, the findings on its antioxidant effects are inconsistent.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the effects of pomegranate consumption on multiple oxidative stress biomarkers using a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs).

METHODS

A comprehensive electronic search on PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, and Google Scholar was conducted up to May 2021. The risk of bias assessment was evaluated by Cochrane Collaboration's tool and a random-effects model was used to estimate the pooled effect size of the included studies.

RESULTS

Our search identified 1692 studies, of which 21 were entered in the final analysis. The results showed that the consumption of pomegranate compared with the control group was associated with a significant elevation in the levels of TAC [SMD = 0.72, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.42, 1.02, P < 0.001] and SOD [SMD = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.25, 1.19, P = 0.002] and reduction in the levels of MDA [SMD = -0.98, 95% CI: -1.49, -0.46, P < 0.001]. There were no reports of statistically significant differences in the effects of pomegranate on the levels of FRAP, GSH, GSH-Px, ox-LDL, and PON1.

CONCLUSIONS

The present meta-analysis provides evidence that pomegranate can effectively improve some oxidative stress factors. Nevertheless, well-designed RCTs are recommended to validate these findings.

Address: Student Research Committee, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran; School of Medicine, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.; Student Research Committee, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran; Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.; Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.; Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran; Nutrition and Food Security Research Center, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.; Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran. Electronic address: [email protected].

DOI: 10.1016/j.clnesp.2021.11.017

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MeSH Terms: Antioxidants, Biomarkers, Humans, Hypertension, Oxidative Stress, Pomegranate