Administration of natural astaxanthin increases serum HDL-cholesterol and adiponectin in subjects with mild hyperlipidemia

• Published in: Atherosclerosis Vol. 209; no. 2; pp. 520 - 523
• Main Authors: Yoshida, Hiroshi, Yanai, Hidekatsu, Ito, Kumie, Tomono, Yoshiharu, Koikeda, Takashi, Tsukahara, Hiroki, Tada, Norio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01.04.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adiponectin; Adiponectin - blood; Adult; Astaxanthin; Atherosclerosis (general aspects, experimental research); Biological and medical sciences; Blood and lymphatic vessels; Cardiology. Vascular system; Cardiovascular; Cholesterol, HDL - blood; Drug toxicity and drugs side effects treatment; Female; HDL-cholesterol; Humans; Hyperlipidemias - blood; Hyperlipidemias - drug therapy; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Toxicity: blood; Triglyceride (TG); Triglycerides - blood; Xanthophylls - therapeutic use; Triglyceride (TG); Astaxanthin; HDL-cholesterol; Adiponectin; Human; Metabolic diseases; Lipids; Cardiovascular disease; Triglyceride; Vascular disease; Cholesterol HDL; Atherosclerosis; Hyperlipemia; Dyslipemia
• ISSN: 0021-9150; 1879-1484; 1879-1484
• DOI: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2009.10.012

Astaxanthin has been reported to improve dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome in animals, but such effects in humans are not well known. Placebo-controlled astaxanthin administration at doses of 0, 6, 12, 18 mg/day for 12 weeks was randomly allocated to 61 non-obese subjects with fasting serum triglyceride of 120–200 mg/dl and without diabetes and hypertension, aged 25–60 years. In before and after tests, body mass index (BMI) and LDL-cholesterol were unaffected at all doses, however, triglyceride decreased, while HDL-cholesterol increased significantly. Multiple comparison tests showed that 12 and 18 mg/day doses significantly reduced triglyceride, and 6 and 12 mg doses significantly increased HDL-cholesterol. Serum adiponectin was increased by astaxanthin (12 and 18 mg/day), and changes of adiponectin correlated positively with HDL-cholesterol changes independent of age and BMI. This first-ever randomized, placebo-controlled human study suggests that astaxanthin consumption ameliorates triglyceride and HDL-cholesterol in correlation with increased adiponectin in humans.