Lecithin May Reduce Chronic Illnesses

ST. LOUISLecithin products delivered in food rather than medication one day may help control blood lipids and reduce risk for diabetes, hypertension or cardiovascular, according to new research from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

"Currently, doctors use drugs called fibrates to treat problems with cholesterol and triglycerides," said the study's co-first author Irfan J. Lodhi, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in endocrinology and metabolism. "By identifying this substance that occurs naturally in the bodyand also happens to be used as a food additiveit may be possible to improve the treatment of lipid disorders and minimize drug side effects by adding particular varieties of lecithin to food."

The new study demonstrates that in the liver, a specific type of lecithin binds with a protein called PPAR-alpha, allowing PPAR-alpha to regulate fat metabolism. Scientists have known that PPAR-alpha is involved in lipid and glucose metabolism. When doctors prescribe fibrate drugs to lower triglycerides and elevate good cholesterol in the blood, those drugs work by activating PPAR-alpha. Although fibrates activate the protein, no one previously had identified any naturally occurring substance that could perform that task.