Mc. Bertolami et al., Evaluation of the effects of a new fermented milk product (Gaio) on primary hypercholesterolemia, EUR J CL N, 53(2), 1999, pp. 97-101
Objective: To verify the effects on the lipid profile of a product of ferme
nted milk (Gaio(R)) in patients with mild to moderate primary hypercholeste
rolemia.
Design: The study was prospective, randomized, double-blinded and placebo c
ontrolled, with a crossover design.
Subjects: Thirty-two patients (21 women and 11 men) with ages ranging betwe
en 36 and 65 years old were included in the study. All of them were on a co
ntrolled diet for at least 8 weeks.
Intervention: Patients began, after clinical and laboratory analysis, in a
randomized and double-blind manner to take 200 g daily of Gaio(R) or its pl
acebo. After 8 weeks blood was collected again for lipid profile evaluation
and the crossover was made. After an additional 8 weeks blood was collecte
d for another lipid profile determination
Results: All patients included completed the study. Comparisons were made b
etween means of lipid profile constituents after the placebo and active pro
duct periods. These showed significant mean reduction of 5.3% (P = 0.004) f
or total cholesterol, 6.15% (P = 0.012) for LDL-cholesterol and no signific
ant variation for HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides. The majority of patien
ts presented no variation or had a decrease in their total cholesterol leve
l. However, during the active product period, three patients showed an incr
ease in cholesterol level by more than 5%.
Conclusion: The fermented milk (Gaio(R)) produced a small but statistically
significant decrease in total and LDL-cholesterol mean. However, not all s
ubjects seem to respond to the product, and a few subjects showed a cholest
erol increment. Further investigations are necessary to clarify this aspect
.
Sponsorship: Vigor Company, Brazil sponsored the study.