Effects of Ecklonia cava Polyphenol in Individuals with Hypercholesterolemia: A Pilot Study

We evaluated the efficacy and safety of Ecklonia cava polyphenol (Seapolynol (TM), 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.