Haddad PierreThe scientists from the Université de Montréal, the Institut Armand-Frappier and the Université de Moncton have discovered that juice extracted from North American low bush blueberries seems to hold great promise as an anti-obesity and anti-diabetic agent.

Apparently, the blueberry juice gets biotransformed with bacteria from the skin of the fruit. They were noted to have examined the effects of biotransformed juices in contrast to regular blueberry drinks on mice.

Senior author Pierre S. Haddad, a pharmacology professor at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Medicine stated that, “Results of this study clearly show that biotransformed blueberry juice has strong anti-obesity and anti-diabetic potential. Biotransformed blueberry juice may represent a novel therapeutic agent, since it decreases hyperglycemia in diabetic mice and can protect young pre-diabetic mice from developing obesity and diabetes.”

For the purpose of the study, the scientists tested the effect of biotransformed blueberry juice on a group of mice who were prone to obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes and hypertension.

“These mice were an excellent model that closely resembles obesity and obesity-linked type 2 diabetes in humans,” claims Dr. Haddad, who is also director of the CIHR Team in Aboriginal Anti-Diabetic Medicines at the Université de Montréal.

Biotransformation of the blueberry juice was noted to have been accomplished with a novel strain of bacteria which was isolated from the blueberry flora. This novel strain of bacteria was particularly known to be called as Serratia vaccinii. Supposedly, they increase the fruit’s antioxidant effects.

Talking on the impact of blueberry products on diabetes, Tri Vuong, lead author and recent PhD graduate from the Université de Montréal’s Department of Pharmacology said that, “Consumption of fermented blueberry juice gradually and significantly reduced high blood glucose levels in diabetic mice. After three days, our mice subjects reduced their glycemia levels by 35 percent.”

Dr. Haddad anticipates that the discovery of the active compounds in biotransformed blueberry juice could possibly lead to the identification of potential novel antiobesity and antidiabetic molecules.

The findings of the study revealed that adding biotransformed blueberry juice into the water of mice seems to have reduced their food intake and their body weight.

This study is called as “Antiobesity and antidiabetic effects of biotransformed blueberry juice in KKAy mice.”

The findings have been published in the International Journal of Obesity.