Natural Bacteria May Provide New Way to Reduce Bad Cholesterol

"The results of this research is positive, in light of current treatment guidelines that recommend lowering LDL-C as one of the first lines of therapy for reducing CVD risk," said Penny Kris-Etherton, PhD, RD, Distinguished Professor of Nutrition, Penn State University.

6 Nov 2012 --- Micropharma Limited announced plans to launch Cardioviva (Lactobacillus reuteri NCIMB 30242), the world's only probiotic shown to naturally help reduce LDL-cholesterol, a risk factor for heart disease, by 11.6 percent in hypercholesterolemic adults. Micropharma will launch Cardioviva in Canada and in the U.S. in early 2013.  

The announcement was made after an American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions press conference today that discussed the new research regarding Cardioviva's ability to naturally lower "bad" and esterified cholesterol.  The findings were also presented at a scientific session entitled "Probiotics for Heart Health: Next Generation of Adjunct Therapies for Lipid Management."

The new evidence in support of Cardioviva not only suggests new potential causes of high cholesterol and methods for naturally managing it, but also adds to an emerging body of research on the gut microbiome (bacteria) and the essential role it plays in overall health.

"Recent evidence suggests that an unbalanced or "dysbiotic" gut microbiome may be caused by environmental factors such as poor diet and antibiotic use, and is not only found in patients with metabolic disease, but may lead to the development of diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease," said Mitchell Jones, MD, PhD, chief scientific officer and co-founder of Micropharma.

"We proposed a natural solution for lowering cholesterol by creating gut balance 1) through diet to encourage the right bugs, and 2) through supplementing the gut with the right bacteria," he said.  "Our two clinical trials have evaluated -240 subjects and showed that supplementing the microbiome (gut) with Cardioviva naturally lowered LDL ("bad"), total and esterified cholesterol in adults with moderately high cholesterol.  A third clinical trial of 150 subjects is currently underway." 

"Micropharma has brought a clinical development path to the world of supplements, with tools and techniques for dissecting the microbiome to find natural and novel ways to improve metabolic health," said Ryan Jones, president and CEO of Micropharma.  "We are proud that Cardioviva is the first probiotic to clinically move a recognized marker of disease."

According to the AHA, nearly 38 million people in the United States would benefit from the combination of diet and drug therapy, and another 30 million from diet and exercise to reduce cholesterol levels. Lack of awareness, fear of side effects, reluctance of otherwise healthy people to take medication, and cost are the major factors interfering with cholesterol management.

The peer-reviewed clinical science behind Cardioviva breaks new ground for probiotics and the potential good they can do naturally through the gut.  Cardioviva, as a supplement or ingredient, provides a new solution to consumers and health care providers looking for natural ways to help manage high cholesterol as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle. It provides a new natural solution for cholesterol management that can fill the gap between diet, exercise and drugs.

"The results of this research is positive, in light of current treatment guidelines that recommend lowering LDL-C as one of the first lines of therapy for reducing CVD risk," said Penny Kris-Etherton, PhD, RD, Distinguished Professor of Nutrition, Penn State University.  "Since diet and other lifestyle approaches are the first step in treating elevated LDL-C, a non-prescription product that enhances lifestyle interventions for LDL-C lowering is of great interest, both to health professionals as well as the general public."