July, 2007. A ground-breaking
independent study was conducted at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa
Israel using our Liposomal
Glutathione with a special breed of Apolipoprotein E-deficient mice
genetically engineered to develop atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis is the name of the process in which deposits of fatty
substances, cholesterol, cellular waste products, calcium, and other
substances build up in the inner lining of an artery. This buildup
is called plaque and usually affects large and medium size arteries,
leading to what is called hardening of the arteries. This
study has shown that the Liposomal Glutathione significantly reduced
oxidative stress and reduced cholesterol deposits in the mice when taken
over a 2 month period.
Researchers Mira Rosenblat, Nina Volkova,
Raymond Coleman, and Michael Aviram administered the liposomal glutathione
and a liposomal placebo to the mice over a two month period. Only
the liposomal glutathione inhibited low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high
density lipoprotein (HDL) oxidation. In the mice, consumption of
liposomal glutathione (12.5 or 50 mg per kilogram per day for 2 months),
but not the control liposomes, reduced serum suceptibility to oxidation by
33%. The higher does of glutathione (50mg/kg/day) consumption
increased the perotneal macrophages (MPM) glutathione content in the mice
by 12%, paralleled by a significant reduction in total cellular lipid
peroxides content (by 40%), compared to placebo treated mice.
Analyses of the cellular cholesterol fluxes
revealed that liposomal glutathione (12.5 mg/kg/day) consumption,
decreased the extent of oxidized LDL uptake by 17% and the cellular
cholesterol biosynthesis rate by 34%, and stimulated HDL-induced
macrophage cholesterol efflux by 19%. Most importantly, cholesterol
mass was reduced by 17% and atherosclerotic lesions were reduced by 30%!
These genetically engineered mice are a
gold standard by which pharmaceutical drugs for reducing cholesterol are
tested prior to human trials, as there is a close correlation between the
cholesterol metabolism in these mice and humans. This research
increases the likelihood that the glutathione will have the same effect in
people.
This article is going to be published in an
upcoming issue of Atherosclerosis,
an international Journal for Research and Investigation on Atherosclerosis
and Related Diseases, the official journal of the European Atherosclerosis
Society.
