OptiBiotix's Cholesterol-Reducing Microbiome Modulator To Be Presented At Vitafoods Europe

OptiBiotix will be presenting its LPLDL® probiotic, a microbiome modulator that has been shown to be effective in reducing cholesterol and blood pressure, in the new product zone at Vitafoods Europe in Geneva. The new Vitafoods product zone showcases innovative products which have come onto the market in the last 12 months. OptiBiotix’s LPLDL® probiotic cholesterol reduction supplement is currently available as a tablet.

Research into OptiBiotix’s LPLDL® probiotic, presented at Probiota in early 2017, demonstrated that it is a safe natural ingredient which reduces blood pressure and cholesterol, key determinates of cardiovascular risk. The probiotic was found to reduce LDL cholesterol by up to 13.9%, and blood pressure by 5.1%. The parallel, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised study was carried out by Glenn Gibson, Professor of Food Microbiology, Head of Food Microbial Sciences at University of Reading.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the global leading cause of death: more people die from CVD than from any other cause. High blood pressure is also a major public health issue and the single biggest risk factor for stroke, and plays a significant role in heart attacks. The combination of high blood pressure and cholesterol deposition may lead to the chronic inflammation and hardening of the walls of the blood vessels, which greatly increases the probability of suffering a cardiovascular event. Recent research, presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2016, has shown that a reduction of both LDL cholesterol and blood pressure can reduce the lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease by almost 90% i.

Stephen O’Hara, CEO of OptiBiotix, commented, “The ability to create designer active ingredients which can modify an individual’s microbiome to improve health places OptiBiotix at the forefront of global microbiome research and product development. The development of our LPLDL® probiotic product makes cholesterol reduction through microbiome modulation a reality”.

LPLDL® is a naturally-occurring strain of the bacterial species Lactobacillus plantarum, which acts by impacting the metabolism of bile acids in the intestine. Lactobacilli are common components of the human intestinal microbiome and have long been used as probiotics. LPLDL® was selected as the optimal bacterial strain for cholesterol reduction from a collection of over 4,000 microbial candidates using OptiBiotix’s OptiScreen® proprietary technology platform.

The human microbiome

The human digestive tract contains a complex and diverse ecosystem of trillions of bacteria. Recently, advances in molecular and analytical techniques (metagenomics, metabolomics) have permitted identification and quantitation of species and strains of bacteria that inhabit the gastrointestinal tract, their metabolic activity, and interactions with the human host. These studies have provided greater insight into the role of gut and their metabolites in health and disease.

About OptiBiotix

OptiBiotix was formed in March 2012 by Stephen O’Hara to develop compounds which modify the human microbiome – the collective genome of the microbes in the body – to prevent and manage human disease.

The aim of OptiBiotix is to discover and develop microbial strains, compounds and formulations, which modulate the human microbiome and can be used as food ingredients and supplements or active compounds for the prevention and management of human metabolic diseases, examples of which include obesity, cholesterol and lipid distribution and diabetes.

OptiBiotix has established a pipeline of microbiome modulators that can impact on lipid and cholesterol management, energy harvest and appetite suppression. The development pipeline is fuelled by its proprietary OptiScreen® and OptiBiotic® platform technologies designed to identify metabolic pathways and compounds that impact on human physiology and bring potential health benefits. These platforms are applicable across a wider range of other human diseases.

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