Abstract
Introduction
Primary cardiovascular (CV) prevention may be achieved by lifestyle/nutrition changes, although a relevant role is now emerging for specific, functional foods and nutraceutical compounds (NCs). The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of NCs in lowering blood pressure (BP) and improving lipid profile, when added to diet and lifestyle management versus diet alone in a group of patients with hypertension (HT) and hypercholesterolemia (HCh) with low CV risk.
Methods
Sixty-six patients with HT and HCh with grade 1 essential HT (mean age 56.0 ± 4.6 years) without history of CV diseases or organ damage were analyzed. These subjects were started on one tablet of an NC-containing red yeast rice, policosanol, berberine, folic acid and coenzyme Q10 once daily for 6 months and were age and gender matched with subjects following a diet program. Differences in clinic BP, 24-h ambulatory BP (24 h-ABPM), serum total cholesterol, low-density and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C and HDL-C) and triglyceride values were compared by analysis of variance.
Results
In the treatment group, a significant reduction of systolic 24 h-ABPM (141.6 ± 6.4 vs. 136.2 ± 4.8 mmHg; p < 0.05) and pulse pressure 24 h-ABPM (52.6 ± 7.2 vs. 47.3 ± 5.4 mmHg; p < 0.05) was found at the end of follow-up. A reduction of total cholesterol (−19.2%), LDL-C (−17.4%) and triglycerides (−16.3%) was observed (p < 0.001 for all); HDL-C remained unchanged. No difference was found in the control group.
Conclusions
The tested NCs was found to be safe, well tolerated and effective in reducing mean 24-h systolic and 24-h pulse pressure and in improving lipid pattern.
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Acknowledgments
Article processing charges for this study were funded by Rottapharm SpA, a MEDA Company, Monza, Italy. All authors had full access to all of the data in this study and take complete responsibility for the integrity of the data and accuracy of the data analysis. All named authors meet the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) criteria for authorship for this manuscript, take responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole, and have given final approval for the version to be published.
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A. Mazza, S. Lenti, L. Schiavon, M. Zuin, M. D’Avino, E. Ramazzina and E. Casiglia declare no conflict of interest.
Compliance with ethics guidelines
All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1964, as revised in 2013. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.
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Mazza, A., Lenti, S., Schiavon, L. et al. Nutraceuticals for Serum Lipid and Blood Pressure Control in Hypertensive and Hypercholesterolemic Subjects at Low Cardiovascular Risk. Adv Ther 32, 680–690 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12325-015-0229-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12325-015-0229-x