Arrigo F G Cicero1, Marco Brancaleoni, Luca Laghi, Franco Donati, Marco Mino. 1. Department of Internal Medicine and Applied Biotechnology, Atherosclerosis and Metabolic Diseases Study Centre G. Descovich, University of Bologna, S. Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital Via Massarenti, 9-40138 Bologna, Italy. afgcicero@cardionet.it
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: We planned to carry out a pilot study to evaluate the efficacy and safety as an antihypercholesterolemic agent of a brand dietary supplement made of Monascus purpureus titrated extract, octacosanols and niacin on 111 Caucasian patients with low cardiovascular disease risk (<20% by Framingham algorithms), comparing them with the antihypercholesterolemic effect of a low dosage of Pravastatin on 20 subjects with similar risk profile. RESULTS: In our study, the tested dietary supplement determined a significant decrease of Total Cholesterol (TC), Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL-C), and Triglycerides (TG) in moderately hypercholesterolemic subjects without clinically relevant change in liver and muscular toxicity markers. The reduction of LDL-C reached the 20%, and it is similar to that obtained with a well-known effective statin like Pravastatin. CONCLUSIONS: Further long-term and double blind evaluation have to be carried out before to infer the observed results, however it appears that the studied dietary supplements could be a safe and efficacious antihypercholesterolemic agent for patients at low risk for cardiovascular diseases.
OBJECTIVES: We planned to carry out a pilot study to evaluate the efficacy and safety as an antihypercholesterolemic agent of a brand dietary supplement made of Monascus purpureus titrated extract, octacosanols and niacin on 111 Caucasian patients with low cardiovascular disease risk (<20% by Framingham algorithms), comparing them with the antihypercholesterolemic effect of a low dosage of Pravastatin on 20 subjects with similar risk profile. RESULTS: In our study, the tested dietary supplement determined a significant decrease of Total Cholesterol (TC), Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL-C), and Triglycerides (TG) in moderately hypercholesterolemic subjects without clinically relevant change in liver and muscular toxicity markers. The reduction of LDL-C reached the 20%, and it is similar to that obtained with a well-known effective statin like Pravastatin. CONCLUSIONS: Further long-term and double blind evaluation have to be carried out before to infer the observed results, however it appears that the studied dietary supplements could be a safe and efficacious antihypercholesterolemic agent for patients at low risk for cardiovascular diseases.
Authors: Arrigo F G Cicero; Alessandro Colletti; Gani Bajraktari; Olivier Descamps; Dragan M Djuric; Marat Ezhov; Zlatko Fras; Niki Katsiki; Michel Langlois; Gustavs Latkovskis; Demosthenes B Panagiotakos; Gyorgy Paragh; Dimitri P Mikhailidis; Olena Mitchenko; Bernhard Paulweber; Daniel Pella; Christos Pitsavos; Željko Reiner; Kausik K Ray; Manfredi Rizzo; Amirhossein Sahebkar; Maria-Corina Serban; Laurence S Sperling; Peter P Toth; Dragos Vinereanu; Michal Vrablík; Nathan D Wong; Maciej Banach Journal: Arch Med Sci Date: 2017-08-04 Impact factor: 3.318
Authors: Rosa Solà; Rosa-M Valls; José Puzo; José-Ramón Calabuig; Angel Brea; Anna Pedret; David Moriña; José Villar; Jesús Millán; Anna Anguera Journal: PLoS One Date: 2014-08-01 Impact factor: 3.240