Clinical trial of the hypolipidemic effects of a brown alga Ecklonia cava extract in patients with hypercholesterolemia

Ecklonia cava, an edible brown alga, is recognized as a rich source of polyphenols and the lipid-lowering effects of which have not yet been studied well. We investigated the efficacy and safety of Ecklonia cava extract (ECE) on blood lipid profiles in subjects with hypercholesterolemia. Eighty healthy subjects with more than 200 mg dLG1 of total cholesterol or more than 110 mg dLG1 of LDL-cholesterol level were randomly assigned to receive ECE (n = 40) or placebo (n = 40) for 12 weeks. Changes in serum total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride and waist-hip ratio levels were measured after the 12-week intervention. The ECE significantly lowered total cholesterol level by 2.8% and LDL-cholesterol level by 11.1% after 12 week supplementation as compared to the placebo (p = 0.039, 0.030, respectively). The HDL-cholesterol level did not change in the ECE group, whereas an increase of 5.6% was observed in the placebo group with a significant difference between groups (p = 0.021). No corresponding changes were seen for triglyceride and waist-hip ratio levels between the two groups. There was no causal relationship between the ingestion of ECE and adverse drug reactions. We found that ECE supplementation improved blood lipid profiles through decreasing total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels which are known as major cardiovascular risk factors. This result suggests that ECE supplementation may be effective in the prevention and treatment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases but more studies are needed to establish the long-term safety and effectiveness.