effect of pomegranate juice on paraoxonase enzyme activity in patients with type 2 diabetes

objective: the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of pomegranate juice (pj) on the paraoxonase and arylesterase activity of human serum paraoxonase( pon1). material and method: fifty patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus consumed 200 ml of pj daily for a period of 6 weeks. blood was collected from the patients before and after pj consumption after 12 h of fasting. blood sugar, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and hdl-c were measured by enzymatic kit method and autoanalyzer. the concentration of ldl-c was calculated by using friedwald formula. the malondialdehyde concentration (μmol/l) was determined by thiobarbituric acid (tba) assay. paraoxonase and arylesterase activity of pon1 enzyme were measured using paraoxone and phenylacetate as the substrates. results: the concentration of fasting blood sugar, total cholesterol, ldl-c and malondialdehyde significantly (p<0.001) decreased after the intervention. paraoxonase and arylesterase activity of pon1 significantly (p<0.001) increased after the intervention. however, there were no significant changes in serum triglyceride and hdl-c. there was a significant positive correlation between paraoxonase and arylesterase activity of pon1 and serum hdl-c concentration. a significant negative correlation was detected between paraoxonase and arylesterase activity of pon1 and fbs. conclusion: it can be concluded that pj consumption as an antioxidant may have a contribution in changing fasting blood sugar, lipid profiles, lipoprotein oxidation, and pon1 activity.