Endocrine Abstracts

Aim: To analyze the effects of inositol administration on parameters related to glucose homeostasis.

Material and methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis of articles published in Medline or Web of Science Until February 1, 2016. We included studies that met the following criteria: i) Randomized controlled clinical trials of inositol/inositol isomer supplementation against placebo in parallel design, ii) performed in humans, iii) with information about glycemic control parameters and iv) published as full article. The following parameters were considered: Fasting plasma glucose (FPG), blood glucose at 2 h after an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), impaired oral glucose tolerance, need for insulin treatment, body mass index (BMI), insulinemia, HOMA-IR and HbA1c. For the meta-analysis, Revman 5.1 software with a random effects model was used.

Results: The search retrieved 476 publications, of which 22 articles were finally included, with a total of 1533 individuals. Treatment time ranged from 28 days to 12 months. Significant differences were observed in all parameters evaluated except in BMI, HbA1c and % of patients who needed treatment with insulin. Treatment with inositol decreased FPG (mean difference −0.44 mmol/l (−0.65, −0.23)), glycemia at 2 h of OGTT (mean difference −0.69 mmol/l (−1.14, −0.23)), % of patients with impaired glucose tolerance (relative risk 0.28 (0.12, 0.66)), insulinemia (mean difference −38.49 pmol/l (−52.63, −24.36)) and HOMA-IR (mean difference −1.96 mIU/l×mmol/L (−2.62, 1.30)). No relevant side effects were observed in patients treated with inositol.

Conclusions: Inositol treatment improves glucose tolerance and insulin resistance by a mechanism independent of body mass index.