Effect of Consumption of Honey Containing Bacillus coagulans on Inflammatory and Oxidative Stress Factors in Patients with Diabetic Nephropathy

Background and Objectives: Diabetic nephropathy is one of the dangerous complications of diabetes, which has a relatively high incidence in diabetic patients and causes kidney failure. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of probiotic honey consumption on inflammatory and oxidative stress indices in patients with diabetic nephropathy.   Methods: This randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial was conducted on 60 patients with diabetic nephropathy. Patients were randomly divided into two groups including: group consuming probiotic honey containing 108 CFU/g of Bacillus coagulans T11 and group consuming control honey (n=30 each group) 25g/day for 3 months. At baseline and 3 months after consumption of honey samples, fasting blood samples were taken from the patients to determine glycemic index, lipid factors, and inflammatory and oxidative stress indices.   Results: In this study, after 3 months of intervention, serum insulin levels (1.2±1.8 vs.-0.1±1.3µIU/ml, p=0.004), HOMA-IR (0.5±0.6 vs. 0.003±0.4, p=0.002), serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (1.9±2.4 vs.-0.2±2.7mg/l, p=0.01) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels (-0.1±0.6vs.+0.6±1.0µmol/l, p=0.002) significantly decreased in patients consumed probiotic honey compared to the patients in the control group. Also, quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI) score significantly improved (+0.005±0.009 vs.-0.0007±0.005, p=0.004).   Conclusion: The results of this study showed that probiotic honey consumption for 3 months in patients with diabetic nephropathy causes improvement in insulin metabolism, serum hs-CRP level, and plasma MDA, but does not affect other metabolic indices.