Evaluation of the effects of a new fermented milk product (Gaio) on primary hypercholesterolemia

Abstract

Objective: To verify the effects on the lipid pro®le of a product of fermented milk (Gaio 1 ) in patients with mild to moderate primary hypercholesterolemia. Design: The study was prospective, randomized, double-blinded and placebo controlled, with a crossover design. Subjects: Thirty-two patients (21 women and 11 men) with ages ranging between 36 and 65 years old were included in the study. All of them were on a controlled diet for at least 8 weeks. Intervention: Patients began, after clinical and laboratory analysis, in a randomized and double-blind manner to take 200 g daily of Gaio 1 or its placebo. After 8 weeks blood was collected again for lipid pro®le evaluation and the crossover was made. After an additional 8 weeks blood was collected for another lipid pro®le determination. Results: All patients included completed the study. Comparisons were made between means of lipid pro®le constituents after the placebo and active product periods. These showed signi®cant mean reduction of 5.3% (P 0.004) for total cholesterol, 6.15% (P 0.012) for LDL-cholesterol and no signi®cant variation for HDLcholesterol and triglycerides. The majority of patients presented no variation or had a decrease in their total cholesterol level. However, during the active product period, three patients showed an increase in cholesterol level by more than 5%. Conclusion: The fermented milk (Gaio 1 ) produced a small but statistically signi®cant decrease in total and LDL-cholesterol mean. However, not all subjects seem to respond to the product, and a few subjects showed a cholesterol increment. Further investigations are necessary to clarify this aspect.

Effect of 8 week intake of probiotic milk products on risk factors for cardiovascular diseases

“…In one study, consumption of 200 ml GAIO 1 daily for 6 weeks reduced LDL-cholesterol in normal-weight men by 10% (Agerbñk et al, 1995). Our ®ndings are also supported by the results of the recently publicised study by Bertolami et al (1999). They found that LDL-cholesterol decreased by 6% after 8 weeks intake of 200 ml yoghurt in 32 subjects.…”

“…This may, however, be due to decreasing compliance during the late part of the study period or to lack of statistical power to detect a 4 ± 5% reduction in blood cholesterol. Another very recent study, based on the above studies on GAIO 1 , evaluated GAIO 1 's effects on primary hypercholesterolaemia (Bertolami et al, 1999). It was different compared with the Danish studies, in that it used an 8 week cross-over design and different kinds of subjects.…”

“…It was different compared with the Danish studies, in that it used an 8 week cross-over design and different kinds of subjects. Bertolami et al (1999) used non-obese, moderately hypercholesterolaemic women and men who had not earlier shown an improvement in LDL-cholesterol level by dietetic modi®cations alone. The results showed that GAIO 1 was able to reduce LDL-cholesterol by about 6% in these hypercholesterolaemic subjects compared with a placebo product.…”

Lactobacillus acidophilus 74-2 and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp lactis DGCC 420 modulate unspecific cellular immune response in healthy adults

“…However, there is little evidence that probiotic bacteria are able to reduce serum cholesterol in vivo. Most studies investigated the cholesterol-lowering effect in hypercholesterolaemic patients or after a high-fat diet (Bertolami et al, 1999;Kawase et al, 2001;Doncheva et al, 2002;Abd El-Gawad et al, 2005). There are few reports documenting the influence on normocholesterolaemic subjects (De Roos et al, 1999;Jahreis et al, 2002).…”

Probiotic capsules do not lower plasma lipids in young women and men

“…Although most studies have reported a hypocholesterolemic effect (Agerback et al, 1995;Schaafsma et al, 1998;Bertolami et al, 1999;Xiao et al, 2003), not all investigations support this result (Richelsen et al, 1996;de Roos et al, 1999). The logistics of procuring and storing a fermented milk product for daily consumption and the dietary modification required to accommodate the additional calories contained in fermented milk products have prompted an exploration of alternative methods for ingesting probiotic bacteria.…”