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  • Original Article
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Beta-glucan- or rice bran-enriched foods: a comparative crossover clinical trial on lipidic pattern in mildly hypercholesterolemic men

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 65, pages 864–871 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/ Objectives:

There has been growing interest in using dietary intervention to improve the lipid profile. This work aims at analyzing the effects and the comparison of the enrichment of a diet with beta-glucans or rice bran in mildly hypercholesterolemic men.

Subjects/Methods:

The subjects initially consumed a 3-week Step 1 American Heart Association diet with rice bran-enriched foods. After this adaptation period, volunteers were randomly assigned to follow a crossover, controlled trial that consisted of two treatment with beta-glucan- or rice bran-enriched foods, each of 4 weeks, with a 3-week wash-out, like the adaptation period, between periods. Fasted blood samples were collected on days 0, 21, 49, 70 and 98 in both study arms for measuring low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol (primary outcome), total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, triglycerides, apolipoprotein (apo) A-I, apo B and glucose levels.

Results:

Twenty-four men (mean age: 50.3±5.3, mean body mass index: 24.9±1.9) completed the 14-week trial. Subjects in the 3-week adaptation period experienced significant reductions in the mean level of LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol/HDL cholesterol, apo A-I, apo A-I/apo B and glucose. During the intervention diet periods, a difference was found between treatment groups for the mean change in LDL (0.21 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.02–0.40), P=0.033) and total cholesterol (0.34 (95% CI: 0.20–0.47), P<0.001). Other parameters evaluated were not significantly affected by the diet consumed.

Conclusions:

The results of the present crossover clinical trial showed that beta-glucan-enriched foods are more effective in lowering serum LDL levels, compared with rice bran-enriched foods.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the volunteers for their participation and commitment to the study, to Francesca Mendozza (Riso Scotti) for her coordination in the intervention foods preparation and to Marco Caspani (DKSH Italia s.r.l.) and Tom Jorgens (PolyCell Technologies) for their linguistic and conceptual revision.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Health Sciences, Endocrinology and Nutrition Unit, Section of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine, Azienda di Servizi alla Persona di Pavia, University of Pavia Istituto di Cura ‘Santa Margherita’, Pavia, Italy

    M Rondanelli, A Opizzi & F Monteferrario

  2. Service of Biometry and Clinical Epidemiology, Fondazione IRCCS ‘Policlinico San Matteo’, Pavia, Italy

    C Klersy

  3. Department of Clinical Sciences ‘L Sacco’, Faculty of Medicine, University of Milan, Milano, Italy

    R Cazzola & B Cestaro

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  1. M Rondanelli
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Correspondence to M Rondanelli.

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Rondanelli, M., Opizzi, A., Monteferrario, F. et al. Beta-glucan- or rice bran-enriched foods: a comparative crossover clinical trial on lipidic pattern in mildly hypercholesterolemic men. Eur J Clin Nutr 65, 864–871 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2011.48

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