Microencapsulated Pomegranate Juice Reduces Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) Criteria in Wistar Rats with MetS Induced with 30% Sucrose  
[PERSON]  
1 Academic Area of Nursing, Graduate School of Thaulheilpan, Autonomous University of Hidalgo State, Thaulheilpan PO. Box 42780, Hidalgo, Mexico; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
[PERSON]  
2 Department of Microbiology, National School of Biological Sciences, National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico City. Box 11340, Mexico; [PERSON]SS]  
[PERSON]  
3 Division of Life Sciences, Nursing and Obstetrics Department, Campus Irapuato-Salamanca, Guanajuato University, Guanajuato P.O. Box 36612, Mexico; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
4 Academic Area of Pharmacy, Health Sciences Institute, Autonomous University of Hidalgo State, San Baptistin Tiaxica PO. Box 42160, Hidalgo, Mexico; mj.mist  
disorders such as abdominal obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and hyperglycemia, all involved in the development of CVD and type 2 diabetes [2]. The worldwide prevalence of MetS is estimated to range from 7.9% to 43% in men and 7% to 56% in women [3]. The National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP/ATP III) is a global health organization with established criteria for diagnosing MetS [4]. According to ATP III, a patient diagnosed with MetS must have three or more of the following criteria: (1) abdominal obesity with large waist circumference (>102 cm in men and >88 cm in women); (2) hypertriglyceridemia (>150 mg/dL or 1.7 mmol/L); (3) low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc) (<40 mg/dL or 1 mmol/L in men and <50 mg/dL or 1.3 mmol/L in women); (4) elevated blood pressure (\(\geq\)130-85 mmHg); and (5) glucose intolerance (\(\geq\)100 mg/dL or 5.5 mmol/L) or type 2 diabetes [5; 6]. Patients with MetS are characterized by marked oxidative stress favoring inflammation; these patients tend to have lower antioxidant enzymes and high levels of oxidative markers such as lipoperoxidation [7]. Therefore, a pro-oxidant/antioxidant imbalance may play an important role in MetS by over-generating reactive oxygen and nitrogen species [8]. The consumption of antioxidant-rich foods, e.g., fruits, may contribute to MetS treatment by preventing and ameliorating the inflammatory process and complications such as atherosclerosis [9]. The pomegranate (_Punica granatum_ L) has been used to effectively treat various diseases in traditional medicine [10], and its value has been confirmed by preclinical and clinical studies [11; 12]. Pomegranate fruit, especially peel and juice, has many bioactive compounds [13; 14; 15]. The juice is especially rich in antioxidant polyphenols [16] such as ellagitannins, anthocyanins, flavonoids, proanthocyanidins and significant amounts of chlorogenic acid, caffe acid, coumaric acid, and ferulic acid [13; 17]. While it has been reported that up to 124 different phytochemicals can be found in a pomegranate, punicalgins are responsible for over 50% of the antioxidant potential of pomegranate juice [18]. In addition, pomegranate juice contains minerals, vitamins C and E, lipoic acid, steroids, and triterpenes, among others [19]. Many preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated that pomegranate has anti-metabolic-syndrome properties [13; 20; 21; 22]. However, pomegranate consumption is limited because it can only be found in certain times of the year. To investigate a potential solution to this problem, we tested microencapsulated pomegranate juice (MPJ) to evaluate the effect of MPJ in an animal model with metabolic syndrome induced with 30% sucrose. MPJ has already been shown to improve endothelial dysfunction and biochemical parameters in women's acute coronary syndrome [23].