Background
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one cause of death in the U.S., and two major risk factors for this disease are high blood cholesterol and inflammation. According to the American Heart Association, about 20 percent of Americans have high blood cholesterol and 80 percent of people with high cholesterol do not have it under control. Furthermore, CVD is the primary or contributing cause to more than 1.4 million deaths in the U.S. each year. The cost of CVD the past two years has reached over $770 billion, including health expenditures and lost productivity resulting from morbidity and mortality. Lowering blood cholesterol and triglyceride to healthy levels is an advised strategy to help reduce the risk of CVD.

Cholesterol and Triglycerides
Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance needed for certain body functions, but too much is unhealthy. Triglycerides are another type of fat measured in the blood. Both are transported in the bloodstream on molecules called lipoproteins—either low-density lipoproteins (LDL) or high-density lipoproteins (HDL) in the case of cholesterol and very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) in the case of triglycerides. High LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels are associated with an increased risk of atherosclerosis and heart disease. That’s why LDL is often called bad cholesterol. Conversely, high levels of HDL cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol) help lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The national Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recently revised its guidelines for healthy cholesterol and triglyceride levels (less than 150 mg/dl). By actually lowering the cut-off point for total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, these recommendations suggest a need for greater focus in the U.S. on reducing and maintaining healthy cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

Sytrinol®—Patented Synergistic Formula
Sytrinol is a patented proprietary formula derived from natural citrus polymethoxylated flavones (PMFs) and palm tocotrienols exclusively marketed worldwide by SourceOne™ Global Partners for use in dietary supplements. This combination results in a synergistic effect for significantly lowering total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. Sytrinol has also been shown to increase HDL levels. Additionally, Sytrinol is a powerful anti-oxidant with numerous heart health benefits including the reduction of arterial plaque, anti-inflammatory properties, improved glycemic control and reduced blood platelet aggregation.

Palm Tocotrienols
Palm tocotrienols, along with tocopherols, are members of the vitamin E family and are extracted from the fruit of the palm tree. Like vitamin E, palm tocotrienols control anti-inflammatory responses and degrade HMG-CoA reductase, a key enzyme in our bodies used by the liver to produce cholesterol. New data on the biological activity of tocotrienols (featuring Davos Life Science Co3 E™ Palm Tocotrienols) in the prevention of neuro-degenerative and cardiovascular disorders along with its antioxidant and chemotherapeutic properties have raised tocotrienols to a new level of prominence in the scientific community.

A whole new perspective has developed into the role tocotrienols play in heart health and their importance as a supplement to a healthy diet. Some of the key areas of interest have centered on its role in maintaining and supporting a healthy cardiovascular system by lowering cholesterol, lowering triglycerides, inhibiting arterial plaque formation and reducing blood platelet aggregation. In a recent study that was published in the Journal of Atherosclerosis, researchers at the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine in Japan found that tocotrienols were more effective than vitamin E in reducing the expression of adhesion molecules, which leads to plaque formation. The study revealed that tocotrienols accumulate at levels that are 25–95 times greater, than alpha tocopherol in human aortic endothelial cells.

Tocotrienols are also potent antioxidants. In human studies, researchers observed that alpha tocotrienols decreased the oxidation of LDL. High LDL levels are a risk factor in cardiovascular disease particularly when they have been oxidized by reactive oxygen species. The antioxidant properties of tocotrienols can mitigate the damage caused by these compounds while protecting cell membranes for better cellular communication.

Polymethoxylated Flavones (PMFs)
Polymethoxylated Flavones are extremely bioactive and potent bioflavonoids found in citrus fruits. This is especially true for tangeretin and nobiletin, two of the most common and potent flavonoids found in nutrient-rich foods. Other important PMFs are sinensetin, tetramethylscutellarein, and desmethylnobiletin. More than 25 years of documented research provides evidence that these particular bioflavonoids deliver heart health benefits.

Specific PMFs, including nobiletin and tangeretin, have been found to help lower LDL cholesterol by inhibiting the creation of its building blocks: apolipoprotein B and triglycerides. Apolipoprotein B is considered the primary building block, making up almost 90 percent of the LDL cholesterol complex. Interestingly, triglycerides are one of the key contributors to the formation of apolipoprotein B. Triglycerides are also one of the primary risk factors in metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes.

In vitro, Sytrinol was shown to help maintain healthy inflammatory responses by influencing cytokine activity: cytokines such as interleukin-6 and interleukins 1-beta. Sytrinol was shown to influence t-lymphocyte mitogenic response and thymidine uptake by activated lymphocytes.

A Novel Combination
Separately, PMFs and tocotrienols are both proven and powerful natural products. But scientists observed a synergistic effect when these ingredients were combined in patented Sytrinol. To prove their point, researchers looked at more than 250 test-tube, pharmacological and human clinical studies on PMFs and palm tocotrienols to determine the optimal levels of each to support heart health. Three recent clinical studies offer compelling evidence that patented Sytrinol supports heart health naturally.

As well as proving to be a novel cholesterol and triglyceride lowering supplement, Sytrinol also improves glycemic control in individuals with metabolic syndrome as presented at the Canadian Federation of Biological Societies 48th Annual Meeting in Guelph, Ontario. To investigate this effect, 10 Sytrinol cholesterol study subjects who also had metabolic syndrome, additionally participated in two 2-h standard 25 g oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT), one before the start of treatment with either Sytrinol or placebo, and one at the end of the four-week supplementation period. Administration of Sytrinol compared to placebo was associated with more pronounced tendency to improved OGTT insulin responses (including 17 percent reduction of postprandial insulin peak, 11 percent reduction in insulin area curve, under the curve, and 53 percent delay in the time of insulin peak appearance) and with the less pronounced positive effect on OGTT glucose profile (43 percent delay in glucose peak appearance without changes in postprandial glucose concentrations). The observed beneficial effects were significantly correlated with the subject’s body mass index (BMI).

Clinical Research
The first clinical trial consisting of 60 adults showed that four weeks of treatment with 300 mg of patented Sytrinol daily significantly decreased levels of total cholesterol (-25 percent), LDL cholesterol (-19 percent), and triglycerides (-24 percent).

In the second trial, 10 adults with elevated cholesterol levels benefited after only four weeks of treatment with 300 mg per day of the patented combination. Treatment with PMFs and palm tocotrienols effectively decreased levels of plasma total cholesterol (-20 percent), LDL (-22 percent), apolipoprotein B (-21 percent), an important structural protein of HDL.

Researchers recently completed the third clinical trial, a 12-week placebo-controlled study involving 120 men and women with moderately elevated cholesterol levels (total cholesterol above 230 mg/dl and LDL greater than 155 mg/daily). Compared to placebo, persons taking the patented PMF and palm tocotrienol combination?(Sytrinol) had a decrease of 30 percent in total cholesterol,?27 percent in LDL cholesterol, and 34 percent in total triglycerides. In addition, HDL levels increased 4 percent, resulting in a significant 29 percent improvement in the LDL: HDL ratio.

How Does Sytrinol Compare?
While other cholesterol improving supplements fail consistently to deliver on their claims, Sytrinol has repeatedly succeeded in human clinical studies. Some products say they are clinically proven, but the ingredient used in the trial is not available to the consumer. Furthermore, too often the effective dose used in the clinical trials is not the same dosage that is found in the supplement at retail. For example, a widely publicized study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that using policosanol does not lower cholesterol levels any more than placebo. Recently, a new trial published in The Archives of Internal Medicine reported that garlic has no cholesterol-lowering effect. Red yeast rice supplements currently in the market differ from the standardized extract that demonstrated cholesterol improvement, and there are no clinical studies on red yeast rice products found in retail stores to validate cholesterol management claims at dosages recommended. In fact, Sytrinol is 87 percent more effective in lowering total cholesterol and 240 percent more effective in lowering triglyceride levels than the most studied red yeast rice supplement. Red yeast rice supplements found in retail stores today are not as effective as the standardized and studied product. Furthermore, the Journal of the American Medical Association states that consuming guggulipids does not have any significant effect on lowering cholesterol. The best choice for receiving superior heart health results is Sytrinol. Sytrinol delivers the same ingredient at the same effective dose used in clinical trials.

Zheng-Xian Liu, Ph.D., is a scientific consultant with more than 18 years of experience in the nutraceutical business and more than 34 years of experience in R?&?D. He received a doctorate in biochemistry and nutrition at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He was an NIH post-doctorate research fellow at Duke University Medical Center, specializing in free radical biochemistry, and a Pratt research fellow in nutrition. He also served as a member of the editorial board of Journal of Advancement in Medicine and has published more than 60 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals.