Chitosan Lowers Total Cholesterol

Chitosan Lowers Total Cholesterol

SHIMANE, Japan--"Chitosan is safe and effective forlowering cholesterol," concluded researchers at Shimane Medical Universityin a study published in the May issue of the European Journal of ClinicalNutrition (57, 5:721-5, 2003) (www.nature.com/ejcn).Orally administered chitosan has been shown to decrease serum cholesterol inanimal and human studies, according to researchers. Their placebo-controlled,double blind trial investigated whether this effect would hold if subjects didnot follow concomitant diet therapy.

Researchers assigned 84 subjects to receive 1.2 g/d of chitosan or placebo,with serum lipids, body weight and adverse events being assessed at baseline andafter 28 and 56 days. Results showed a significant reduction in totalcholesterol with chitosan treatment. A reduction in LDL cholesterol was alsonoted among a subset of subjects--those above 60 years of age.