The Hindu Business Line : Indian herb fails cholesterol test

GUGGULIPID, a natural extract often favoured by the health-conscious as an alternative to manufactured drugs in lowering cholesterol has turned out to be no more effective than a placebo in clinical trials at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Guggulipid is a standardised extract of the plant Commiphora mukul and has been used in India for over 2,000 years. It was believed that Guggulipid could lower blood cholesterol by 14-27 per cent and triglycerides by 22-30 per cent. It also worked on the liver by increasing the metabolism (or break-down) of the bad cholesterol known as LDL cholesterol. These effects were attributed to its action on the liver and thyroid.

The thyroid gets stimulated and increases the body's metabolic rate, while the liver gets in an overdrive to metabolise LDL cholesterol, effectively lowering the amount in the bloodstream, or so went the argument.

Indian practitioners of ayurvedic medicine have used the herb in holistic regimens combining meditation, yoga and diet to treat obesity, atherosclerosis, high cholesterol and arthritis.

"We found that the guggulipid product did not lower the level of LDL-C (low density lipoprotein cholesterol) in our trial participants, but actually raised LDL-C slightly," said Dr Philippe O. Szapary, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Penn and principal author of the study. The randomised, double-blind, eight-week study at Penn included 103 volunteers who were divided into three groups. One group was given a standard dose (1,000 mg) of guggulipid three times daily; a second group was given a high dose (2,000 mg) of the extract; and the third group was given the placebo.

"We found LDL-C increased by four per cent in the standard-dose group and five per cent in the high-dose group. At the same time, it decreased by five per cent in the placebo group," Dr Szapary said.

The findings did not support the use of guggulipid to control LDL-C in the general population, according to Dr Szapary.

The results strengthen the belief that dietary supplements need to be studied to test both their safety and efficacy.

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