title: Administration of natural astaxanthin increases serum HDL-cholesterol and adiponectin in subjects with mild hyperlipidemia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Astaxanthin has been reported to improve dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome in animals, but such effects in humans are not well known.
  
  
  METHODS
  Placebo-controlled astaxanthin administration at doses of 0, 6, 12, 18 mg/day for 12 weeks was randomly allocated to 61 non-obese subjects with fasting serum triglyceride of 120-200mg/dl and without diabetes and hypertension, aged 25-60 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In before and after tests, body mass index (BMI) and LDL-cholesterol were unaffected at all doses, however, triglyceride decreased, while HDL-cholesterol increased significantly. Multiple comparison tests showed that 12 and 18 mg/day doses significantly reduced triglyceride, and 6 and 12 mg doses significantly increased HDL-cholesterol. Serum adiponectin was increased by astaxanthin (12 and 18 mg/day), and changes of adiponectin correlated positively with HDL-cholesterol changes independent of age and BMI.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This first-ever randomized, placebo-controlled human study suggests that astaxanthin consumption ameliorates triglyceride and HDL-cholesterol in correlation with increased adiponectin in humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Jikei University Kashiwa Hospital, Chiba, Japan. hyoshida@jikei.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Hidekatsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yanai
authors.forename: Kumie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Yoshiharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tomono
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koikeda
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsukahara
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tada
mesh_terms: D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood*; D000328:Adult; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D024341:Xanthophylls / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D052242:Adiponectin; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D014280:Triglycerides; D024341:Xanthophylls; C005948:astaxanthine