Effects of Ecklonia cava polyphenol in individuals with hypercholesterolemia: a pilot study

We evaluated the efficacy and safety of Ecklonia cava polyphenol (Seapolynol™, a polyphenol antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent purified from E. cava) during a 12-week treatment period (400 mg orally once daily) in individuals with hypercholesterolemia and performed subgroup analysis for metabolic syndrome (MetS). As a noncomparative study, forty-six individuals (M:F=22:24, mean age=54±11 years) with fasting total cholesterol concentration >240 mg/dL or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) concentration >130 mg/dL were enrolled. Hip circumference (100±7 cm vs. 98±7 cm, P<.01), total cholesterol (244±25 mg/dL vs. 225±37 mg/dL, P<.01), LDL-C (161±24 mg/dL vs. 146±34 mg/dL, P<.01), and C-reactive protein (2.51±3.55 mg/L vs. 1.37±1.32 mg/L, P<.05) were significantly decreased without significant adverse effect. A differential assessment according to the presence [MetS(+) group, n=18] and absence [MetS(-) group, n=28] of MetS showed that Hb(A1c) decreased significantly following 12-week Seapolynol treatment in the MetS(+) compared with the MetS(-) group (-0.3%±0.5% vs. 0.1%±0.3%, P<.01). In conclusion, although our results showed that Seapolynol treatment is effective and safe without significant adverse events or abnormal laboratory findings during a 12-week period in individuals with hypercholesterolemia, more research in a larger population with a longer-term follow-up period in a randomized placebo-controlled study is needed to confirm the results.