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Lycium chinense Miller fruit extract lowers liver enzyme levels in subjects with mild hepatic dysfunction: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial

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Abstract

Purpose

In our previous study, we showed that Lycium chinense Miller fruit extract (LFE) exerted hepatoprotective effects in mice. In the current study, we examined the effect of LFE on liver enzyme levels in subjects with mild hepatic dysfunction.

Methods

A total of 90 subjects, aged 19 to 70 years old, with abnormal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, were randomly placed into either an LFE (n = 45) treatment group or a placebo group (n = 45). During the 12-week clinical trial, subjects in each group received either LFE or placebo capsules, and were instructed to take four tablets per day (1760 mg/day). The primary outcome of the study was the changes of ALT and γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT) levels in each subject. The safety of LFE supplementation was assessed and adverse events were recorded.

Results

LFE supplementation for 12 weeks resulted in a significant reduction of ALT (P = 0.0498) and GGT (P = 0.0368) levels in comparison to the placebo. No clinically significant changes were observed in any safety parameters.

Conclusion

These results suggest that LFE can be applied to subjects with mild hepatic dysfunction with no possible side effects.

Trial registration

This study was registered at the Clinical Research Information Service (CRIS) as no. KCT0003985.

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Data availability

Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a grant funded by the Cheonyang-gun (Chungnam, Republic of Korea). The authors would like to thank the Writing Center at Jeonbuk National University for its skilled proofreading service.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Trial Center for Functional Foods, Jeonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju, Jeonbuk, 54907, Republic of Korea

    Mi-Ra Oh, Su-Jin Jung, Soo-Wan Chae & Seung-Ok Lee

  2. Biomedical Research Institute of Jeonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju, Jeonbuk, 54907, Republic of Korea

    Su-Jin Jung, Soo-Wan Chae & Seung-Ok Lee

  3. Department of Biochemistry and Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Jeonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Jeonbuk, 54896, Republic of Korea

    Byung-Hyun Park

  4. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Jeonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Jeonbuk, 54896, Republic of Korea

    Seung-Ok Lee

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Contributions

MRO, SJJ, SWC, BHP, and SOL conceived the project and designed the protocol; MRO, SJJ, SWC, BHP, and SOL performed the experiments; MRO, BHP, and SOL analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; BHP and SOL have primary responsibility for the final content of the paper. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Byung-Hyun Park or Seung-Ok Lee.

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Oh, MR., Jung, SJ., Chae, SW. et al. Lycium chinense Miller fruit extract lowers liver enzyme levels in subjects with mild hepatic dysfunction: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Eur J Nutr 62, 1415–1425 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-022-03075-8

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