title: Rhus Coriaria L. (Sumac) in Patients with Hyperlipidemia; A Double Blind Randomized Clinical Trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lipid lowering effect of sumac is investigated in multiple animal studies with promising results. However, its clinical efficacy is not investigated adequately. This study is aimed to evaluate the lipid lowering effect of sumac in patients with Hyperlipidemia in a double blind randomized controlled trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty patients with Hyperlipidemia according to NCEP-ATP III criteria were randomly allocated to receive the Rhus Coriaria L. (1000 mg/day) or placebo for two months. The patients were evaluated in terms of the serum triglyceride, total LDL, and HDL cholesterol. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures along with serum biochemistry profile including fasting blood sugar, liver and kidney function tests and complete blood count were evaluated before the enrolment of patients and after the intervention.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant difference was observed between the sumac and placebo groups in term of mean reductions in total and LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels. A significant increase in mean serum HDL cholesterol level was observed in the sumac group (41.18±8.2 vs. 44.65±8.4, P=0.001) after 2 months of intervention.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study showed significant HDL cholesterol increasing effect of sumac supplementation in patients with Hyperlipidemia.
authors.affiliation: Departmen t of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hajmohammadi
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mesbah
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shams
authors.affiliation: Departmen t of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Javad
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Zibainejad
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Traditional Medicine and History of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nimrouzi
authors.affiliation: Departm en t of Phytopharmaceuticals (Traditional Pharmacy), School of Pharmacy, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Pouya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fardidi
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Traditional Medicine and History of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mojtaba
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heydari
keywords: Clinical trial; Hyperlipidemias; Medicine; Traditional