ABSTRACT
The distinction between “good reactive oxygen species (ROS)” and “bad ROS” has recently been reported in regard to diabetes [14]. The harmful or “bad ROS,” resulting in systemic oxidative stress, has widely been implicated in the etiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) [6]. In addition to weight loss and increased ber intake, the incorporation of functional foods to reduce oxidative stress on the body has been suggested. Fermented papaya preparation (FPP) is a nutritional supplement that is made from yeast fermentation of ripe Carica papaya Linn that has been reported to be a potent antioxidant capable of relieving the burden of “bad ROS” [13]. It has also been reported that T2DM leukocytes are decient in their ability to produce a respiratory burst, good ROS, in response to a stimulus [8,10]. Our lab has recently provided novel evidence that in addition to scavenging free radicals and reducing “bad ROS,” oral supplementation of FPP to T2DM patients promotes the production of “good ROS” in the form of the bactericidal respiratory burst production of superoxide anion (O2∙−) [10].
