The Effect of Argan Oil on Surrogate Markers in Cardiovascular Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Argan oil is a natural vegetable oil recently received much attention because of ingredients such as tocopherols, particularly in its γ-isoform, polyphenols, and phytosterols which are rich sources of antioxidants with therapeutic effects on cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, hepatic disease, cancer, acne, sebum, and aging. One half tablespoon per day was shown to be effective to prevent metabolic diseases. Methods: The current systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the effect of argan oil on cardiovascular health. PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases were searched from their beginning to August 2019. All clinical trials studied the effect of argan oil on the systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), body mass index (BMI), vitamin E, apolipoprotein A (Apo A) and apolipoprotein B (Apo B) levels for at least two weeks were included. Five studies underwent metaanalysis techniques using random-effects models. Results: Collective outcomes showed that argan oil increased the vitamin E level (SMD: 2.98, 95%CI: -0.51, 6.48, p=0.09) non-significantly compared with control group. Argan oil could significantly raise the Apo A level (SMD: 0.74, 95%CI: 0.39, 1.10, p<0.001), and decrease the Apo B level significantly (SMD: -0.58, 95%CI: -0.93, -0.23, p=0.001). Conclusion: Our study showed that consumption of argan oil increased Apo-A and vitamin E levels, but further clinical studies on a larger number of patients are needed to explain and confirm the biological and clinical effects of argan oil.