Fig. 2 illustrates the effect of hemolysis on human erythrocytes
exposed to plasma from a pre-diabetic population supplemented
with 6 g FPP/day for 14 weeks. Mean basal HT50 values ranged between
65.62–164.1% in males and 47.54–164.4% in females of the
treatment group (Table 3). FPP consumption induced a slight increase
(P < 0.05) of 3.3% in males, whereas HT50 dropped by 1.5%
in females at week 14. Post wash out analysis showed a continuous
non-significant increase of 1.3% (P > 0.05) and 4% (P > 0.05) in
males and females of the treatment group respectively, providing
further evidence of the prophylactic effects of FPP. The mean carbonyl
protein content in pre-diabetics at baseline ranged between
156–840.8% and 224.2–947.7% in males and females of the treatment
group (Table 3). The effect of a short term intake of FPP on
the level of protein carbonyls in the blood plasma is illustrated in
Fig. 3. After 14 weeks of FPP supplementation there was a decrease
of 1.9% in males and 9.7% females of the treatment group (non-significant).
A continued non-significant reduction of 5.8% and 11.9%
in males and females respectively was observed after the wash
out period. The extent of which FPP influences the accumulation
of protein carbonyls in the blood plasma even after the wash out
period reflects the in vivo capacity of FPP to markedly lower oxidative
stress in pre-diabetics.