Men and not women showed cholesterol lowering after 12 weeks of supplementation with secoisolariciresinol diglucoside

Abstract

We hypothesized that secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG, Beneflax™) derived from flaxseed, would lower serum cholesterol in hypercholesterolemic humans and that the effect would be correlated with serum lignan metabolites. 90 subjects ingested 0 mg (18 male, 12 female), 150 mg (19 male, 11 female), or 300 mg SDG (, 20 male, 10 female) total daily dose for 12 w in a randomized, placebo‐controlled double‐blind trial. At 0 and 12 weeks, serum secoisolariciresinol (SECO), enterodiol (ED), and enterolactone (EL) were measured by LC/MS. Fasting serum cholesterol, glucose, and HbA1c were measured at −2, 0, 4, 8 and 12 wks. Decrease of total cholesterol (TC) and LDL‐cholesterol (LDL‐C) from baseline were significant in men ingesting either dose of SDG. Plasma glucose was not changed from baseline by any treatment. The decrease of TC and LDL‐C from baseline was significantly greater in men than in women ingesting 300 mg SDG/d. Serum SECO, EL and ED were significantly increased in subjects ingesting either dose of lignans. LDL‐C was negatively correlated with serum ED (r = − 0.50, P = 0.03); and LDL decrease from baseline was positively correlated with serum SECO (r = 0.59, P = 0.01) in subjects ingesting 150 mg SDG/d. In conclusion, SDG decreased serum TC and LDL‐C in men but not in women and this function was related to the bioavailability of lignan metabolites. Research funded by Archer Daniels Midland.Grant Funding Source: Archer Daniels Midland