BACKGROUND:

It has been recently shown that oral administration of D002, a mixture of higher aliphatic primary alcohols isolated from beeswax, inhibits rat microsomal lipid peroxidation. This justified the present attempt to investigate whether D002 also exerts antioxidant effects in humans.

METHODS:

The effects of D002 on lipid peroxidation were studied in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial conducted in 50 healthy volunteers. Unfractionated plasma samples at baseline and at 12 weeks were subjected to in vitro copper-induced lipid peroxidation and conjugated diene generation was monitored by changes of optical density.

RESULTS:

The oral treatment with D002 (50 mg/day) not only significantly prolonged (p <0.001) lag time before the onset of conjugated diene formation compared with that of baseline but also increased (p <0.05) lag phase when compared with placebo group. In fact, in the D002 group the lag-phase of oxidation was prolonged 1.5-fold. D002 oral treatment decreased TBARS and increased plasma total antioxidant status (TAS) (p <0.01).

CONCLUSIONS:

Because prooxidant states have been linked to normal senescence and some age-related diseases, the present data suggest that D002 may find a use in preventing age-related diseases as a dietary natural antioxidant supplement.