Bergamot for Hypercholesterolemia: Patient Compliance Made Easy

Bergamot for Hypercholesterolemia: Patient Compliance Made Easy

Bergamot for Hypercholesterolemia: Patient Compliance Made Easy

By Prof. Gene Bruno, MS, MHS, RH(AHG) Huntington College of Health Sciences

When it comes to nutraceutical decisions to treat hypercholesterolemia, the sky seems to be the limit. However, many of the nutraceuticals have problems such as: B. limited effectiveness and the need for relatively large doses to be taken two or three times daily. As a healthcare professional, you know that the latter issue can impact patient compliance. That's why I think bergamot - and a specific substance called Bergavit 40 - is such an interesting option for treating hypercholesterolemia.

Bergamot is the common name of the fruitCitrus Bergamia Risso(Route family), which differs from other citrus fruits by the composition and content of various flavonoids such as neoeriocitrin, neohesperidin and naringin. Preclinical and clinical studies demonstrated a hypocholesterolemic property ofC. BergamiaFlavonoids. However, the clinical studies of bergamot extracts used dosages between 1,000 and 1,500 mg per day, sometimes requiring a twice-daily dosing regimen.1,2

However, a more recent, six-month bergamot study3 was published in the journal in 2016Frontiers in pharmacology. This study used a specific bergamot extract called Bergavit 40, which was standardized to provide 150 mg of the flavonoids neoeriocitrin, neohesperidin and naringin at a dose of 400 mg – this is the daily dose used in the study of 80 subjects (42 men and 30 women, mean age: 55 ± 13 years). All subjects had moderate hypercholesterolemia (e.g., plasma LDL-C concentrations between 160 and 190 mg/dL).

At baseline and after six months of taking Bergavit 40, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were measured by routine laboratory methods, while LDL-C was calculated. Additionally, color Doppler ultrasound of the carotid arteries was performed at baseline and after 6 months.

The results showed that plasma lipids improved significantly with a 12 and 20% decrease in TC, LDL-C (p < 0.0001 for both) and a 17% decrease in TG (p = 0.0020), respectively, while HDL-C increased by 8%. (p = 0.0007). Greater reductions in plasma LDL-C levels were achieved in subjects with higher baseline LDL-C levels (p = 0.004). In addition, carotid ultrasound showed that carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis, decreased from 1.2 ± 0.4 to 0.9 ± 0.1 mm (25 percent; p < 0.0001) after six months of supplementation with Bergavit 40.

Given the positive results of these studies and the 400 mg/day dose, I suggest that Bergavit 40 is a worthwhile nutraceutical to consider for your hypercholesterolemic patients, especially those for whom compliance may be an issue.

References:
1 Halliwell B, Gutteridge JMC.Free radicals in biology and medicine.Third ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 1999. 2 Krinsky NI, Landrum JT, Bone RA. Biological mechanisms of the protective function of lutein and zeaxanthin in the eye.Annual Rev. Nutr.2003;23:171-201. 3 Vishwanathan R, Kuchan MJ, Johnson EJ. Lutein is the predominant carotenoid in the child brain. Poster No. 1.23. 16th International Symposium on Carotenoids. Acta Biologica Cracoviensia Series Botanica.2011;53(suppl.1):29. 4 Johnson EJ et al., Brain lutein and zeaxanthin levels are associated with cognitive function in centenarians (abstract)FASEB J.2011;25:975. 5 Lindbergh CA, Mewborn CM, Hammond BR, Renzi-Hammond LM, Curran-Celentano JM, Miller LS. 6 Relationship of lutein and zeaxanthin levels to neurocognitive functions: An fMRI study of older adults.J Int Neuropsychol Soc.2016 Oct 25:1-12. [Epub ahead of print]. 7 Vishwanathan R, Iannaccone A, Scott TM, Kritchevsky SB, Jennings BJ, Carboni G, Forma G, Satterfield S, Harris T, Johnson KC, Schalch W, Renzi LM, Rosano C, Johnson EJ. Macular pigment optical density is related to cognitive function in the elderly.Age aging.March 2014;43(2):271-5.

Professor Gene Bruno, MS, MHS, the provost for Huntington College of Health Sciences, is a nutritionist, herbalist, writer and educator. For more than 37 years, he has educated and trained natural products retailers and healthcare professionals, researched and formulated natural products for dozens of dietary supplement companies, and written articles on nutrition, herbal medicine, nutraceuticals, and integrative health topics for trade and consumer magazines and peer-reviewed publications. He can be reached at gbruno@hchs.edu.

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