Trehalose

Trehalose prevents adipocyte hypertrophy and mitigates insulin resistance.
Arai C, Arai N, Mizote A, Kohno K, Iwaki K, Hanaya T, Arai S, Ushio S, Fukuda S.
Nutr Res. 2010 Dec;30(12):840-8.

 Trehalose has been shown to evoke lower insulin secretion than glucose in oral saccharide tolerance tests in humans. Given this hypoinsulinemic effect of trehalose, we hypothesized that trehalose suppresses adipocyte hypertrophy by reducing storage of triglyceride and mitigates insulin resistance in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). Mice were fed an HFD and given drinking water containing 2.5% saccharide (glucose [Glc], trehalose [Tre], maltose [Mal], high-fructose corn syrup, or fructose [Fru]) ad libitum. After 7 weeks of HFD and saccharide intake, fasting serum insulin levels in the Tre/HFD group were significantly lower than in the Mal/HFD and Glc/HFD groups (P < .05). Furthermore, the Tre/HFD group showed a significantly suppressed elevation of homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance compared with the Mal/HFD group (P < .05) and showed a trend toward lower homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance than the Glc/HFD group. After 8 weeks of feeding, mesenteric adipocyte size in the Tre/HFD group showed significantly less hypertrophy than the Glc/HFD, Mal/HFD, high-fructose corn syrup/HFD, or Fru/HFD group. Analysis of gene expression in mesenteric adipocytes showed that no statistically significant difference in the expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) messenger RNA (mRNA) was observed between the Tre/HFD group and the distilled water/standard diet group, whereas a significant increase in the MCP-1 mRNA expression was observed in the Glc/HFD, Mal/HFD, Fru/HFD, and distilled water/HFD groups. Thus, our data indicate that trehalose prevents adipocyte hypertrophy and mitigates insulin resistance in HFD-fed mice by reducing insulinsecretion and down-regulating mRNA expression of MCP-1. These findings further suggest that trehalose is a functional saccharide that mitigates  insulin resistance. PMID: 21147367 Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  Acute effects of low insulinemic sweeteners on postprandial insulin and glucose concentrations in obese men.
Maki KC, Kanter M, Rains TM, Hess SP, Geohas J.
Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2009;60 Suppl 3:48-55

 This randomized, double-blind, crossover study was designed to assess the effects oftrehalose, a non-reducing disaccharide, alone and in combination with fructose, on postprandial serum insulin and glucose levels in obese men compared with a glucose control. Participants (n=21) ingested one of three study beverages, providing 75 g total carbohydrate, at each test visit, and venous blood samples were collected immediately prior to consumption (0 min) and at 30 min, 45 min, 60 min, 90 min, and 120 min post-consumption for assessment of serum insulin and plasma glucose levels. Consumption of beverages containing trehalose and the trehalose/fructose combination blunted glycemic and insulinemic incremental areas under the curve by 20-35%, as compared with the glucose control. Trehalose, alone or in combination with fructose, elicited lower glycemic and insulinemic responses in obese men as compared with glucose alone, and may have advantages in the development of food products. PMID: 19180358

  Technological and functional applications of low-calorie sweeteners from lactic acid bacteria.
Patra F, Tomar SK, Arora S.
J Food Sci. 2009 Jan-Feb;74(1):R16-23.

 Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been extensively used for centuries as starter cultures to carry out food fermentations and are looked upon as burgeoning “cell factories” for production of host of functional biomolecules and food ingredients. Low-calorie sugars have been a recent addition and have attracted a great deal of interest of researchers, manufacturers, and consumers for varied reasons. These sweeteners also getting popularized as low-carb sugars have been granted generally recommended as safe (GRAS) status by the U.S. Federal Drug Administration (USFDA) and include both sugars and sugar alcohols (polyols) which in addition to their technological attributes (sugar replacer, bulking agent, texturiser, humectant, cryoprotectant) have been observed to exert a number of health benefits (low calories, low glycemic index, anticariogenic, osmotic diuretics, obesity control, prebiotic). Some of these sweeteners successfully produced by lactic acid bacteria include mannitol, sorbitol, tagatose, and trehalose and there is a potential to further enhance their production with the help of metabolic engineering. These safe sweeteners can be exploited as vital food ingredients for development of low-calorie foods with added functional values especially for children, diabetic patients, and weight watchers. PMID: 19200114