Pharmacological Clinical and Experimental Studies on the Effect of Alginates in the Treatment of Obesity

Introduction: In the prevention and treatment of obesity dietary regiments plays a major role. Recently the benefits of different food supplements are pointed out. The aim of our study was to examine the effect of alginates on the weight loss and body mass index (BMI), and some metabolic parameters in adults and rodents. Materials and methods: The first study represented a clinical study. A total of 108 obese patients entered the trail. They received a diet with a 500 kcal/ daily deficit and alginates as a food supplements. Anthropometric measures were done at baseline and after 6 weeks. Lipid status was also measured. The second study was an experimental study on 48 male obese Wistar rats with previously developed nutritional model of obesity. Results: We found statistically significant reduction of BMI and waist circumference in the group, treated with alginates. Further, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides were also statistically significantly reduced in the treated group. Our experimental study showed that rats treated with alginate acid demonstrated a significant reduction of body weight. Moreover there were changes in the blood levels of ghrelin between those treated with/without alginates. Conclusions: Our study suggests that alginates could be useful for reduction of body weight and can reduce lipid cardiovascular risk factors in both humans and animals