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news.American Heart Association Meeting Report has revealed that two daily doses of a probiotic lowered key cholesterol-bearing molecules in the blood as well as bad and total cholesterol.
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Probiotics are living microorganisms commonly present in yogurt or dietary supplements, which are expected to have beneficial effects.
According to study lead author and McGill University Faculty of Medicine research assistant Mitchell L. Jones, supplementing gut bacteria (microbiome) with probiotics is also expected to fight certain chronic diseases such as heart disease.
The nine week study, which involved 127 adult patients with high cholesterol, also aimed to investigate whether the same probiotic could lower LDL and reduce blood levels of cholesterol esters.
Of 127, nearly half the patients, who were given L. reuteri NCIMB 30242 twice a day had 11.6 % lower LDL levels, 6.3 % reduced cholesterol esters and 8.8% reduced saturated fatty acids in comparison to patients who were given placebo capsules.
The study results also showed that the probiotic broke up bile salts, which lead to reduced cholesterol absorption in the gut and less LDL.
Micropharma, which owns intellectual property rights for the formulation, has funded the study.