The present study investigated the efficacy and safety effects of Sinetrol-XPur (polyphenolic citrus dry extract) in weight management; metabolic parameters; and inflammatory, glycemic and oxidative status. In a 12-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, Sinetrol-XPur was given to overweight subjects twice daily with meals in the tested group (N = 47) versus a placebo group (N = 48). Waist and hip circumference and abdominal fat were decreased in the Sinetrol-XPur group as compared with the placebo group (p < 0.0001) (-5.71% vs. -1.56% for waist, -4.71% vs. -1.35% for hip and -9.73% vs. -3.18% for fat). Inflammatory markers were reduced (C-reactive protein: -22.87% vs. +61%; fibrinogen: -19.93% vs. -1.61%, p < 0.01). Oxidative stress was lowered as seen by the reduction of malondialdehyde (-14.03% vs. 2.76%) and the increase in superoxide dismutase and glutathione (17.38% vs. 2.19% and 4.63% vs. -2.36%, respectively, p < 0.01). No adverse effects were observed. Kidney, liver, and lipid panels remained unchanged. These results indicated that Sinetrol-XPur supplementation is a viable option for reducing abdominal fat, waist and hip circumference, and body weight and for improving inflammatory, glycemic, and oxidative status in healthy overweight individuals.

This study presents the results of transcutaneous oxygen pressure (TcPO2) monitoring during a treadmill test walk performed in the early stages of peripheral obliterative vascular disease. The study population consisted of a first group of 50 known arteriopathic patients presenting, on questioning, with intermittent claudication; a second group of 50 known arteriopathic patients void of any symptoms of intermittent claudication; and a third group, which was a control cohort of 20 nonarteriopathic, nonclaudicating patients. Though resting TcPO2 cannot be used to aid the clinical diagnosis of exercise ischemia it may be useful in revealing asymptomatic chronic resting ischemia (9% of cases in this series). On the other hand, a posteffort (recovery phase) fall in TcPO2 had a predictive positive diagnostic accuracy for ischemia on exercise in 99% of the cases reported here versus 87% for clinical appraisal. In the light of these results, TcPO2 measurements coupled to a treadmill test walk perfectly ascertain exercise ischemia in arteriopathic patients, whether asymptomatic or not, and avoid the false-positive results obtained by clinical evaluation.

Tissue hypoxaemia can be evaluated by the noninvasive method of transcutaneous oxygen tension (tcpO2) measurement in patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD). The effects of naftidrofuryl (Praxilene) on exercise-induced tissue ischaemia was objectively assessed by continuously measuring the tcpO2 in 30 patients during three treadmill tests over a 3-month period in a randomized double-blind, placebo controlled, parallel group study. To be included in the study, the tcpO2 and total walking distance had to be stable during the washout period (D-15-D0). The area under the tcpO2 curves was scanned and automatically calculated after identification of baseline and the end of the treadmill test. The treadmill test on D30 and D90 was terminated at a similar walking distance to that obtained on D0. On D0 both groups were comparable (p = 0.22). The area under the curve (AUC) reduced significantly in the naftidrofuryl group between D0 and D30 (p < 0.001) and D0 and D90 (p < 0.001). However, no significant tcpO2 AUC reduction was found in the placebo group (D0-D30, p = 0.58; D0-D90, p = 0.50). This was confirmed by calculation of the percentage of patients whose percentage change in the AUC on D90 was higher than the upper limit of the 90% confidence interval, calculated from the percentage change over the washout period. Of the 15 patients receiving natfidrofuryl, 66.6% exceeded this upper limit, compared with only 7% of patients receiving placebo (p = 0.0017). This study shows that naftidrofuryl has a protective effect on exercise-induced tissue ischaemia as measured by the tcpO2 AUC in PAOD stage II patients.