But one expert argues that findings on the effectiveness of
the extract must be independently confirmed, and that his own
research has found no cholesterol-lowering benefit for similar
substances.
The beeswax powder contains a mix of long alcohol molecules
known as policosanol, which is found in virtually all waxy
plant materials. Rod Lenoble, technical director of natural
products company Hauser Inc. in Longmont, Colorado, described
his company's development of the beeswax extract, along with
promising data from a similar product made in Cuba from sugar
cane wax. Due to trade restrictions, the Cuban extract cannot
be sold in the US.
To date, Cuban scientists have conducted 15 trials of the
sugar cane wax product with more than 1,000 patients, and have
also compared the product to statins, the powerful
cholesterol-lowering drugs prescribed to millions of people
with heart disease.
People given 5 to 20 milligrams (mg) of the extract daily
saw their total cholesterol drop 17% to 19%, with LDL ("bad")
cholesterol dropping by roughly 25%, Lenoble reported. While
most of the studies found no effect on HDL ("good")
cholesterol, the two largest studies, both lasting a year,
found the extract increased good cholesterol by nearly 30%, he
said.
And when Cuban researchers compared the product to five
commercially available statins, they found the sugar cane wax
extract compared favorably when it came to lowering both total
and LDL cholesterol, Lenoble said.
To date, trials of the Cuban product have found no toxic
effects, he added.
Lenoble and his colleagues have developed a policosanol
extract from beeswax with a chemical profile similar to that of
the Cuban extract, he said. The beeswax extract would be sold
as a dietary supplement, he told Reuters Health, and would cost
from $10 to $30 a month.
While research on policosanol is "very impressive and seems
convincing," said Dr. Heiner K. Berthold, a professor of
clinical pharmacology at the University of Bonn in Germany, it
has been performed in only a few centers, and must be confirmed
independently.
Berthold, who wrote a review of the evidence on policosanol
and cholesterol published earlier this year, is also the
executive secretary of the Drug Commission of the German
Medical Association.
Berthold conducted a study, not yet published, that found
policosanol did not lower blood lipids. "It will take us a
while to discuss the possible explanations," he told Reuters
Health in an interview, but noted he has more faith in his own
data than that of other researchers.
While Berthold said he still believes policosanol might
help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease through other
effects, more independent studies of such effects are also
needed, he added. If mild cholesterol-lowering effects of
policosanol could be confirmed, he said, the extracts could
indeed be helpful for patients with mild high cholesterol. "A
lot of research is still required to get a clearer picture," he
added.
Meanwhile, Lenoble and his colleagues are planning a
50-patient trial of the beeswax product. Patients will take 10
mg of the extract or an inactive placebo daily for 8 weeks.
Data should be available within 6 months, Lenoble said.
