Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (OxLDL) is believed to play a role in the progression of atherosclerotic coronary heart disease (CHD) and the development of diabetes complications. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of a novel insoluble fiber derived from the mycelium
Aspergillus niger
, chitin-glucan (CG) (ARTINIA™), evaluated 135 patients with fasting LDL-cholesterol 130-189.9 mg/dl and fasting glucose <=125 mg/dl. Participants were randomly assigned to receive CG (4.5 g/day; n=34), CG (1.5 g/day; n=33), CG (1.5 g/day) plus olive extract (n=33), or matching placebo (n=35) for 6 weeks. The primary outcome measure was the between-group difference in OxLDL. Secondary outcome measurements included effects upon lipid, glucose, insulin, and F2-isoprostane levels. After 6 weeks, CG 4.5 g/day (CG-4.5) significantly reduced mean OxLDL 3.8 U/L compared to baseline (58.0 U/L vs 61.8 U/L, respectively;
P
=0.006), and reduced OxLDL 4.97 U/L compared to placebo (P=<0.05). Other treatment groups generally had no significant effect upon OxLDL. CG treatment groups reduced LDL-cholesterol levels 3.2–;6.5% compared to placebo (P<0.05). In this study population without diabetes mellitus or elevated glucose levels, CG did not significantly affect high density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, insulin, F2-isoprostanes, or the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance. Treatments were well tolerated and with adverse experiences comparable to placebo. These results suggest that chitin-glucan, a novel insoluble fiber, may significantly reduce OxLDL and LDL-cholesterol levels, which may have therapeutic implications for patients at risk for CHD or other diabetes complications.
Addition of insoluble fiber to isolation media allows for increased metabolite diversity of lab-cultivable microbes derived from zebrafish gut samples
