Researchers from the University of Jaén (UJA) , together with the University Hospital of Jaén and Solvitae Medical, are developing a joint study on the efficacy of olive polyphenols against fibromyalgia. Specifically, this nutritional intervention study -which has the collaboration of the Fibromyalgia Patients Association of Jaén (AFIXA) and the Genosa company- will serve to measure the efficacy of a food supplement called Mygrium® , with a high concentration of derived polyphenols of the olive tree, in the symptoms suffered by this group.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic and complex disease that presents with generalized musculoskeletal pain accompanied by strong joint stiffness, poor night's rest and a state of generalized fatigue, which causes significant limitations in people who suffer from it.
The researcher of the Cell Biology Area of the UJA and coordinator of the study, Mª Luisa del Moral Leal, explained that the research group "Cellular Stress and Age" at the University of Jaén has been working for a long time in the line of research "Fibromyalgia and olive oil", counting on the collaboration of AFIXA, whose management and members have thanked their involvement.
In this sense, the research group of the educational center has published several studies that show that the consumption of extra virgin olive oil, and specifically of one of its phenolic compounds, hydroxytyrosol, provides protection in terms of oxidative homeostatic balance and reduction of inflammation, as well as changes in the dermal fibroblast proteome of fibromyalgia patients, concluding that it could be highly beneficial in the management of fibromyalgia.
This study takes a further step in the line of research initiated by the UJA, analyzing, among other aspects, the possible changes at the level of the plasma proteome after the administration of Mygrium ® in people affected by fibromyalgia.
Esther Ocaña, head of the Clinical Management Unit of the Laboratory of the University Hospital of Jaén, has indicated that “the results of the different analytical parameters that will be determined in the laboratory and that analyze the inflammatory state, as well as liver and kidney function and carbohydrate metabolism will help us to understand the effect of olive polyphenols on the clinical evolution of patients”.
For his part, the general director of the technology-based company Solvitae Medical, Andrés Garrido, has stated that "we are very happy to be able to contribute to trying to improve the limiting problems that these people suffer daily."
The UJA has stressed that AFIXA is a non-profit organization that is doing a great job to support, promote and disseminate everything related to this disease. Its president, Ana Colmenero, stressed that “there are many research studies in which the association has actively participated with the sole objective and interest of supporting each initiative that they offer us. To thank the University of Jaén, the University Hospital of Jaén and the Solvitae Medical company, for the effort and dedication in this study. Go ahead, the sick are the first interested in advancing the investigation and that is the only reason why we selflessly lend our body, our time and our dreams ”.
Genosa, a Malaga-based company specializing in olive polyphenols, has participated in the design of the study, which "has been contributing for more than 15 years contributing to give value to what will be, possibly, the greatest assets of the olive tree, contributing to give value to it in the future”, as stated by its CEO Carlos Peña.
Source: Mercacei