Conditions: Hypercholesterolemia
Keywords: Cholesterol
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Enrollment: 13
Healthy volunteers: yes

Brief summary:
Elevated blood cholesterol, and particularly LDL cholesterol, is a risk factor for heart disease. Tocotrienols are naturally-occurring compounds in foods that may have beneficial effects on blood cholesterol. Tocotrienols are members of the vitamin E family, and are found in barley, oats, rye, coconut oil and rice bran oil, but the richest source of tocotrienols is palm oil. Certain of these tocotrienols have been shown to be effective in lowering LDL (or 'bad') cholesterol, with no adverse effects on the HDL (or 'good') cholesterol. The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of a palm-oil derived tocotrienol supplement on blood cholesterol, and particularly LDL cholesterol, in individuals who are taking statins, and have either elevated or normal cholesterol levels. Study subjects will consume a palm-oil derived supplement of tocotrienol for 3 months to determine its effects on LDL cholesterol.

Detailed description:
Both tocotrienols and tocopherols, whose derivatives are in eight different isoforms, are closely related structurally. Tocopherols are generally present in common vegetable oils (i.e. soy, canola). However, tocotrienols are concentrated in cereal grains (ie. oat, barley, and rye, rice bran), with the highest level found in crude palm oil. The development of new cholesterol-lowering agents has been given more and more attention by pharmaceutical companies due to the strong relationship between cholesterol and atherosclerosis. Tocotrienols, especially δ- and γ-tocotrienols, were shown to be effective nutritional agents to treat high cholesterol in recent research programs. In particular, γ-tocotrienol appears to inhibit 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase at a posttranscriptional level and there is some evidence that tocopherols antagonize this effect. Therefore, the current study is designed to demonstrate that treatment with a tocotrienol-enriched fraction of palm oil for a three month period will lead to a significant reduction in LDL cholesterol with no effect on HDL cholesterol in patients whose cholesterol level is not adequately controlled in spite of statins. This objective will be achieved utilizing a simple three arm randomized placebo-controlled trial in a total of 99 subjects After acclimation to a step I AHA diet and no supplemental vitamin E in the diet, subjects will be given either a placebo capsule or a tocotrienol (120mg or 240mg) capsule in addition to their statin medications

Arms:
arm 1: 33 subjects with cholesterol level (\>180 mg/dl), ages 35-70, currently taking statins who meet all of the eligibility criteria in the screening phase of the study will be assigned to the TRF (63mg) arm of the study to evaluate the cholesterol suppressive actions of TRF. Subjects will be asked to take 2 tablets per day and to maintain the American Heart Association (AHA) diet for 12 weeks. arm 2: 33 subjects with cholesterol level (\>180 mg/dl), ages 35-70, currently taking statins who meet all of the eligibility criteria in the screening phase of the study will be assigned to the TRF (127mg) arm of the study to evaluate the cholesterol suppressive actions of TRF. Subjects will be asked to take 2 tablets per day and to maintain the American Heart Association (AHA) diet for 12 weeks. arm 3: 33 subjects with cholesterol level (\>180 mg/dl), ages 35-70, currently taking statins who meet all of the eligibility criteria in the screening phase of the study will be assigned to the Placebo arm of the study to evaluate the cholesterol suppressive actions of Placebo. Subjects will be asked to take 2 tablets per day and to maintain the American Heart Association (AHA) diet for 12 weeks.

Interventions: intervention 1: Gamma Delta Tocotrienols - Low Dose intervention 2: Gamma Delta Tocotrienols - High Dose intervention 3: Sugar Pill
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: 250 mg capsule containing 63 mg Gamma Delta Tocotrienols 2x/day for 12 weeks. intervention 2: 250 mg capsule containing 127 mg Gamma Delta Tocotrienols 2x/day for 12 weeks. intervention 3: 250 mg Placebo capsule containing 50% medium chain triglycerides and 50% glycerin 2x/day for 12 weeks.

Protocol document: