Effects of Berries Consumption on Cardiovascular Risk Factors: A Meta-analysis with Trial Sequential Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 6; no. 1; p. 23625
• Main Authors: Huang, Haohai, Chen, Guangzhao, Liao, Dan, Zhu, Yongkun, Xue, Xiaoyan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 23.03.2016; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 692/53/2422; 692/699/592; Adult; Biomarkers - blood; Biomarkers - metabolism; Blood Pressure; Body mass; Body mass index; Cardiovascular diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases - diet therapy; Cardiovascular Diseases - metabolism; Cardiovascular Diseases - prevention & control; Cholesterol; Cholesterol, LDL - blood; Clinical trials; Fasting; Female; Fruit - chemistry; Fruits; Glycated Hemoglobin A - metabolism; Health risks; Hemoglobin; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Laboratory testing; Low density lipoprotein; Male; Meta-analysis; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Risk Factors; Science; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - blood; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Young Adult
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/srep23625

The effects of berries consumption on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors have not been systematically examined. Here, we aimed to conduct a meta-analysis with trial sequential analysis to estimate the effect of berries consumption on CVD risk factors. PubMed, Embase and CENTRAL were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that regarding the effects of berries consumption in either healthy participants or patients with CVD. Twenty-two eligible RCTs representing 1,251 subjects were enrolled. The pooled result showed that berries consumption significantly lowered the low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol [weighted mean difference (WMD), −0.21 mmol/L; 95% confidence interval (CI), −0.34 to −0.07; P  = 0.003], systolic blood pressure (SBP) (WMD, −2.72 mmHg; 95% CI, −5.32 to −0.12; P  = 0.04), fasting glucose (WMD, −0.10 mmol/L; 95% CI, −0.17 to −0.03; P  = 0.004), body mass index (BMI) (WMD, −0.36 kg/m 2 ; 95% CI, −0.54 to −0.18, P  < 0.00001), Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) (WMD, −0.20%; 95% CI, −0.39 to −0.01; P  = 0.04) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (WMD, −0.99 ρg/mL; 95% CI, −1.96 to −0.02; P  = 0.04). However, no significant changes were seen in other markers. The current evidence suggests that berries consumption might be utilized as a possible new effective and safe supplementary option to better prevent and control CVD in humans.