Eryngium heterophyllum and Amphipterygium adstringens Tea Effect on Triglyceride Levels; A Clinical Trial

Abstract

Herbal medicine represents an alternative for treating dyslipidemia. It has been probed that aerial part of Eryngium heterophyllum, a species of medicinal plant that belongs to the family Apiaceae, reduces cholesterol by 27% in rats. On the other hand, Amphipterygium adstringens, a Mexican tree exerts a significant hypocholesterolemic effect on rats, lowering cholesterol levels by 31%. The aim of this project was to evaluate the PC-300 tea (Eryngium heterophyllum egelm + Amphipterygium adstringens) against hypertriglyceridemia. It was a non-randomized, descriptive, prospective, longitudinal, and comparative clinical study. Voluntary subjects were assigned sequentially into two treatment groups: 1) fibrate (bezafibrate) 200 mg/day, and 2) PC-300 tea, one cup half an hour before eating. Baseline samples of serum total cholesterol and triglycerides were obtained and measured again after 1 month of treatment. There were 17 patients (males: 6, females: 11) treated with the tea, with a mean age of 49 ± 15 years, and 17 patients (males: 8, females: 9) treated with bezafibrate, with a mean age of 44.7 ± 13 years. In the first group, the percentage of triglyceride reduction was 19.7% (p ≤ 0.05), while in the second group, this was 44.8% (p ≤ 0.001). We conclude that consumption of PC-300 reduces triglyceride levels an average of 20% after 1 month.