Rhus coriaria L. increases serum apolipoprotein-A1 and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels: a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial.

Background: Lipid-lowering effect of Rhus coriaria L. (Rhus) has been investigated in multiple animal studies with promising results. Nonetheless, its clinical efficacy has not been adequately examined.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the lipid-lowering effects of Rhus among patients with hyperlipidemia.

Design, Setting, Participants And Interventions: The study was designed as a two-arm, double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial, using a parallel design. Eighty patients with primary hyperlipidemia were randomly assigned to receive Rhus capsules or placebo for 6 weeks.

Main Outcome Measures: The serum lipid levels, apolipoprotein-A1 (Apo-A1) and apolipoprotein-B (Apo-B) were measured.

Results: Mean serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and Apo-A1 levels were significantly increased in the Rhus group, compared with the placebo group, after 6 weeks of intervention (P = 0.001). The analysis of covariance test including age, gender, body mass index (BMI), and smoking as co-variables revealed that the increase in HDL-C and Apo-A1 levels remained significant, and increases in HDL-C were dependent on the increase in Apo-A1 levels. No significant difference was observed between Rhus and placebo groups in terms of mean reductions in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels; however, more significant improvement was observed among obese patients (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m).

Conclusion: The study showed significant increases in HDL-C and Apo-A1 levels in response to Rhus supplementation in patients with hyperlipidemia.

Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02295293.