Investigating the Lipid-Regulating Effects of Bergamot, Red Yeast Rice, Pine Bark, Vitamin E and Sesame Seed Extracts in Hamsters

Abstract

With the rapid development of society, lifestyles and dietary habits are gradually changing. Due to the rich variety of food, highfat
and high-sugar diets are becoming more common. Humans who consume high-fat diets for a long time are prone to dyslipidemia,
which is one of the main risk factors for the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) such as coronary heart disease,
myocardial infarction, atherosclerosis and hypertension. It is becoming a major health problem facing the world. Based on many
studies, it is known that bergamot (Citrus bergamia) extract, red yeast rice (Monascus anka) powder, pine bark (Pinus radiata) extract,
vitamin E and sesame (Sesamum indicum) extract have the potential to regulate blood lipids. However, there are no actual investigations
or studies on this novel combination to control blood lipids.
Objective
This trial investigated whether lipid-clearing capsules (LCC) containing bergamot extract, red yeast rice powder, pine bark extract,
vitamin E and sesame extract had an improved effect on regulating blood lipids.
Design
In this experiment, a high-cholesterol diet (HCD) containing 0.2% cholesterol was used to induce hyperlipidemia in experimental
animals. Experimental animals (hamsters, male, n=50, 5-6-weeks old, mean weight about 90 g) were purchased from the National
Center for Experimental Animal Reproduction and Research (NCEAR) and randomly divided into 5 groups (n=10) after a oneweek
adaptation period: (1) normal control group (Control), (2) high cholesterol diet group (HCD, fed high cholesterol diet),
(3) 1-time dose of LCC group (LCC-1X, fed HCD+1-fold daily dose of LCC), (4) 2-times dose of LCC group (LCC-2X, fed
HCD+2-fold daily dose of LCC), (5) 5-times dose of LCC group (LCC-5X, fed HCD+5-fold daily dose of LCC). Blood biochemistry,
liver and stool analyses were performed after 8-weeks to assess the lipid-regulating effect of the capsules.
Results
Eight weeks of HCD feeding resulted in significant increases in serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and low-density
lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) concentrations, as well as significant increases in hepatic TG and TC-levels and fecal TG and TClevels.
Thus, feeding a high-cholesterol diet resulted in significant dyslipidemia and fatty liver formation in experimental animals.
Supplementation with 1, 2, or 5 times the dose of LCC for 8-weeks resulted in a significant decrease in serum TG, TC, LDL-C
and LDL-C/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio (p<0.05) and a significant decrease in TG and TC in the liver
(p<0.05). Supplementation with LCC also significantly increased TC excretion in the feces.
Conclusion
The results of this study confirm that LCC has lipid-regulating effects. By translating the experimental data into a daily supplement
for adults, it is recommended that a daily intake of 2 LCC (1000 mg internal volume) can help reduce serum TG, TC and
LDL-C concentrations, leading to a healthy effect on cardiovascular disease prevention.