Alkylglycerols reduce serum complement and plasma vascular endothelial growth factor in obese individuals

Alkylglycerols (AKGs), isolated or present in shark liver oil have anti-inflammatory properties. Complement 3 (C3) and 4 (C4) participate in lipid metabolism and in obesity, contributing to the metabolic syndrome and to the low-grade inflammation associated with obesity. In a randomized, controlled, crossover study, 26 non-diabetes obese individuals were assigned two preparations with low (LAC, 10 mg AKGs) and high (HAC, 20 mg AKGs) AKG content. Intervention periods were of 3 weeks preceded by 2-week washout periods in which shark liver oil was avoided. Cholesterol, C3, C4, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) decreased in a linear trend (P < 0.01) from baseline (control) to LAC and HAC. Values after HAC were significantly lower (P < 0.05) versus both baseline and after LAC. No adverse effects were observed or reported. Data from this pilot study open a promising field for the study of the beneficial effects of AKGs on cardiovascular risk factors in obese individuals.

This work has been done in the context of the University of Barcelona (UB), PhD Research Program in Dietetics and Nutrition (EEES H0502). It was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation/FEDER (European Regional Development Found-ERDF) financing the project AGL2006-02031, by Instituto de Salud Carlos III Miguel Servet’s contract (CP06/00100), and partially supported by the Agencia de Gestio Ajuts Universitaris de Recerca 2009 SGR 1195. CIBEROBN and CIBERESP are initiatives of Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.

Peer Reviewed