Lyprinol—Is It a Useful Anti‐Inflammatory Agent?

Abstract

The New Zealand green lipped mussel preparation Lyprinol is available without a prescription from a supermarket, pharmacy or Web. The Food and Drug Administration have recently warned Lyprinol USA about their extravagant anti-inflammatory claims for Lyprinol appearing on the web. These claims are put to thorough review. Lyprinol does have anti-inflammatory mechanisms, and has anti-inflammatory effects in some animal models of inflammation. Lyprinol may have benefits in dogs with arthritis. There are design problems with the clinical trials of Lyprinol in humans as an anti-inflammatory agent in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, making it difficult to give a definite answer to how effective Lyprinol is in these conditions, but any benefit is small. Lyprinol also has a small benefit in atopic allergy. As anti-inflammatory agents, there is little to choose between Lyprinol and fish oil. No adverse effects have been reported with Lyprinol. Thus, although it is difficult to conclude whether Lyprinol does much good, it can be concluded that Lyprinol probably does no major harm.

The effects PCSO-524®, a patented marine oil lipid and omega-3 PUFA blend derived from the New Zealand green lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus), on indirect markers of muscle damage and inflammation after muscle damaging exercise in untrained men: a randomized, placebo controlled trial

“…It has been shown the green-lipped mussel oil blend used in the present study, which contains up to 91 fatty acid components [23], has more potent anti-inflammatory activity than fish oil, which contains abundant EPA, in various animal models of arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease [22]. Therefore, it is possible that additional constituents of the green-lipped mussel oil blend, which may act synergistically with the n -3 LC-PUFA, may also be partially responsible for its anti-inflammatory effects.…”

Marine lipid fraction PCSO-524™ (lyprinol®/omega XL®) of the New Zealand green lipped mussel attenuates hyperpnea-induced bronchoconstriction in asthma

“…48 Although previous studies have shown that fish oil supplementation provides a protective effect against EIB 7,10 and HIB 9 as a result of its anti-inflammatory properties, the present study is the first to show that PCSO-524ä, a different type of marine oil derived from the shellfish P. canaliculus (NZGLM) is similarly effective as fish oil in attenuating airway inflammation and HIB in asthmatic subjects. 9 While PCSO-524ä has been shown to be effective in treating osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease, 49 only a limited number of studies have examined the efficacy of PCSO-524ä in human asthma 19,50 and animal models of asthma. 20 Emelyanov et al 19 demonstrated in 46 patients with atopic asthma that PCSO-524ä (Lyprinol Ò ) [two capsules taken twice daily for 8 weeks; each capsule containing 50 mg n-3 PUFA and 100 mg olive oil], compared to placebo, reduced daytime wheeze and exhaled hydrogen peroxide (marker of airway inflammation) and increased morning peak expiratory flow, but did not improve night awakenings or reduce the use of b 2 -agonists or forced expiratory volume in 1-sec (FEV 1 ).…”

Current Developments on Anti-Inflammatory Natural Medicines

“…The compound acted as dual inhibitors of COX and 5-LOX in vitro [39]. It has found to exhibit anti-arthritic activity [40].…”