β-glucan from barley and its lipid-lowering capacity: a meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials

• Published in: European journal of clinical nutrition Vol. 64; no. 12; pp. 1472 - 1480
• Main Authors: AbuMweis, S.S, Jew, S, Ames, N.P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.12.2010; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/45/612/1191; 692/700/565/2072; Barley; beta-glucans; beta-Glucans - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; blood lipids; Cholesterol; Cholesterol, HDL - blood; Cholesterol, LDL - blood; Clinical Nutrition; Clinical trials; Confidence intervals; Cross-Over Studies; dose response; Epidemiology; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Food consumption; Food matrix; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Glucan; Hordeum - chemistry; human nutrition; Humans; Hypercholesterolemia - drug therapy; Internal Medicine; lipemic effect; Lipids; Low density lipoprotein; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Meta-analysis; Metabolic Diseases; nutritional intervention; original-article; Phytotherapy; Plant Preparations; Public Health; randomized clinical trials; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Subgroups; Triglycerides - blood; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; β-Glucan; β-glucan; meta-analysis; cholesterol; barley; Barley; Randomization; Lipids; Clinical trial; Metabolic diseases; Cholesterol; Antilipemic agent; Metaanalysis
• ISSN: 0954-3007; 1476-5640; 1476-5640
• DOI: 10.1038/ejcn.2010.178

Background/Objectives: To more precisely quantify the effect of barley β-glucan on blood lipid concentrations in humans and to examine the factors that could affect its efficacy. Subjects/Methods: Eleven eligible randomized clinical trials published from 1989 to 2008 were identified from nine databases. Weighted mean effect sizes were calculated for net differences in lipid profile using a random effect model (RevMan 4.2). Results: Overall, barley and β-glucan isolated from barley lowered total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentrations by 0.30 mmol/l (95% confidence interval (CI): −0.39 to −0.21, P<0.00001) and 0.27 mmol/l (95% CI: −0.34 to −0.20, P<0.00001), respectively, compared with control. The pattern of cholesterol-lowering action of barley in this analysis could not be viewed as a dose-dependent response. There were no significant subgroup differences by type of intervention and food matrix. Conclusions: Increased consumption of barely products should be considered as a dietary approach to reduce LDL cholesterol concentrations.