Red palm oil supplementation reduces lipid peroxidation and monocyte tissue factor in chronic liver disease patients
Beneficial effect of refined red palm oil on lipid peroxidation and monocyte tissue factor in HCV-related liver disease: a randomised controlled study
A randomised, controlled study reveals that red palm oil (RPO, enriched with high levels of tocotrienols, tocopherols and carotenoids) supplementation decreases lipid peroxidation and endotoxemia (the presence of heat stable toxin derived from certain Gram-negative bacteria in the blood), production of inflammatory cytokines and monocyte tissue factor (TF) in chronic liver disease patients.
In this study, 60 patients with a mean age of 62 years with Child A/B genotype 1 HCV-related cirrhosis with no history of alcoholic beverage consumption were recruited. The patients were randomly assigned to receive either 300mg of vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol acetate) or 15g of RPO supplementation for 8 weeks.
Blood parameters such as circulating endotoxin, plasma endotoxin-inhibiting capacity, macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF), urinary isoprostane-F2alpha-III and monocyte TF activity, erythrocyte malondialdehyde (MDA) were examined after the second, fourth and eighth week. Liver ultrasound imaging was done to examine liver steatosis.
Both the RPO and vitamin E tocopherol-supplemented groups did not demonstrate any change in levels of endotoxin and plasma endotoxin-inhibiting capacity, but they did show a significant reduction in erythrocyte malondialdehyde and urinary isoprostane-F2alpha-III when compared with baseline.
When compared with vitamin E tocopherol-supplementation, the RPO-supplemented group showed a significant improvement in oxidative stress via decrease in M-CSF level and monocyte TF activity after the fourth and eighth week of supplementation, respectively. Additionally, the RPO-supplemented group showed a tendency towards lower erythrocyte MDA levels more significantly than the vitamin E tocopherol-supplemented group.
No changes are observed in liver ultrasound images for both RPO and vitamin E groups.
'Oxidative stress plays a key role in the progression of chronic liver diseases. Serum M-CSF is the most secreted inflammatory cytokine while monocyte TF activity is strongly associated with the production of endotoxemia among patients diagnosed with chronic liver failure. Both M-CSF and monocyte TF activity take part in the pathophysiology of oxidative stress. The good news is that the consumption of RPO, with its wholesome array of tocotrienols, tocopherols and carotenoids, helps to ameliorate chronic liver diseases with decreased level of plasma M-CSF and monocyte TF activity, as demonstrated in this study,' says CheeYen Lau, Nutritionist at ExcelVite.
'While the study uses red palm oil, it may not be convenient for consumers to take 15g of the oil on a daily basis. Not to mention the ingestion of high amount of oil. ExcelVite has developed and launched EVSpectra, a natural red palm oil concentrate consisting of a mixture of full spectrum tocotrienols (alpha-, beta-, gamma- and delta-tocotrienols), tocopherols and carotenoids,' says Bryan See, Regional Product Manager, ExcelVite.
'The ratio of total vitamin E (tocotrienols/tocopherols) to total mixed carotenoids is 2:1, which is exactly the same as found in red palm oil but it is 100 times more concentrated than the regular red palm oil. EVSpectra is suitable for formulation into softgel or liquid capsules. Hence, all the unique health beneficial phytonutrients of red palm oil is concentrated into one single extract (EVSpectra) for ease of formulation and supplementation of dietary supplements as well as food products to support healthy liver functions,' he added.
