The role of novel red yeast rice formulations to modulate lipid metabolism and reduce dyslipidemia and vascular disease in the JCR:LA-cp rat.

The primary objective of this MITACS study is to utilize a novel animal model with high blood lipids to assess the potential lipid lowering efficacy of red yeast formulations developed by SinoVeda Canada Inc. The intestine is the first-pass organ for the metabolism of dietary lipids and has an important role in whole body cholesterol homeostasis. While the intestine is known predominantly to absorb and secrete cholesterol and contributes to faecal sterol removal, it has also been proposed to contribute to the regulation of plasma cholesterol concentration. Funding from my NSERC Discovery grant, has revealed that the intestine can modulate it’s secretion of cholesterol and triglyceride (TG) under different metabolic and dietary fatty-acid conditions. The purpose of this new MITACS application is to utilize the expertise that my group and interns have developed to partner with a provincial company to exploit this new knowledge to develop a new Natural Health Product (NHP) for cholesterol lowering.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Spencer Proctor

Student:

Faye Borthwick and Sheng Wu

Partner:

SinoVeda Canada Inc.

Discipline:

Agriculture

Sector:

Life sciences

University:

University of Alberta