Algae Extract Increases Good Cholesterol Levels, Research Finds

Posted On: July 8, 2012

A Wayne State University researcher has found that an extract from algae could become a key to regulating cardiovascular disease.

In a study funded by Health Enhancement Products of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Smiti Gupta, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of nutrition and food science in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has found that dietary intake of ProAlgaZyme increased the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in an animal model.

While medications for the control of high plasma cholesterol levels such as statins and numerous dietary supplements primarily function by lowering levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), or “bad cholesterol,” Gupta’s research explores the effects of raising levels of HDL, or “good cholesterol,” which work in part by carrying cholesterol out of the arterial wall.

Results of her study, titled “ProAlgaZyme and its Sub-fractions Increase Plasma HDL-Cholesterol via Up Regulation of ApoA1, ABCA1 and SRB1 and Inhibition of CETP in Hypercholesterolemic Hamsters,” were published recently in the Journal of Nutrition and Dietary Supplements.

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