Author(s)

Agustina Malpeli¹, María Pía Taranto², Ricardo C. Cravero³, Marina Tavella¹, Victoria Fasano¹, Dimas Vicentin³, Guillermina Ferrari¹, Graciano Magrini³, Elvira Hébert², Graciela Font de Valdez², Ana M. Varea¹, Julio M. Tavella¹, Horacio F. González^1*

¹IDIP—Instituto de Desarrollo e Investigaciones Pediátricas “Prof. Dr. Fernando E. Viteri” (Hospital de Niños de La Plata, Ministerio de Salud/Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la Pro-vincia de Buenos Aires), La Plata, Argentina.
²CERELA—Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos (CONICET), Tucumán, Argentina.
³Sancor CUL, Departamento de Investigación, Innovación y Desarrollo, Sunchales, Argentina.

The effect of daily consumption of a yogurt containing Lactobacillus reuteri CRL 1098 on the lipid profile of hypercholesterolemic subjects was evaluated by performing a prospective, randomized, double-blind, cross-over placebo controlled clinical study. Participants consumed daily a yogurt containing L. reuteri CRL 1098 or a placebo for four weeks, separated by a wash-out period. Total cholesterol, triacylglycerol, high-density (HDL) and low-density (LDL) lipoprotein levels were assessed at the beginning and at the end of each period. We found a statistically significant reduction of total (–7.86 g/dl) and LDL (–7.02 g/dl) cholesterol in absolute changes (before-after) as well as a decreasing trend in the group receiving the yogurt containing L. reuteri with respect to the placebo group, without detecting changes in HDL-cholesterol and triacylglycerol levels. Our results suggest that low amounts of yogurt (125 g/day) and low doses of the CRL 1098 strain (10⁶ CFU) are sufficient to reduce total and LDL-cholesterol levels in hypercholesterolemic subjects.

Lactobacillus reuteri , Hypercholesterolemia, Cardiovascular Risk, Probiotics, Functional Foods

Malpeli, A. , Taranto, M. , Cravero, R. , Tavella, M. , Fasano, V. , Vicentin, D. , Ferrari, G. , Magrini, G. , Hébert, E. , Valdez, G. , Varea, A. , Tavella, J. and González, H. (2015) Effect of Daily Consumption of Lactobacillus reuteri CRL 1098 on Cholesterol Reduction in Hypercholesterolemic Subjects. Food and Nutrition Sciences, 6, 1583-1590. doi: 10.4236/fns.2015.617163.