ChromaDex Pterostilbene Lowers Blood Pressure in First Human Clinical Trial

ChromaDex’s (Irvine, CA) pTeroPure pterostilbene ingredient significantly reduced blood pressure in a recent study on adults. The patented pTeroPure is a nature-identical form of pterostilbene, an antioxidant found in blueberries.

In double-blind, placebo-controlled fashion, researchers from the University of Mississippi Medical Center assigned 80 adults to  a high dose of pTeroPure (250 mg),  a low dose of pTeroPure (50 mg), the low dose in combination with 100 mg of grape extract, or placebo. On average, participants were considered prehypertensive, with a mean systolic blood pressure of 127.4 mmHg and a mean diastolic blood pressure of 79.3 mmHg.

At the study’s close, subjects in the high-dose pterostilbene group showed significantly greater reductions in blood pressure compared to the placebo group. Specifically, the group showed reductions of 7.9 mmHg in systolic blood pressure and 7.33 mmHg in diastolic blood pressure.

By contrast, ChromaDex says, there wasn’t much change in subjects’ lipid profiles. The only significant change noted here was an increase in LDL cholesterol with pTeroPure-although this increase was less in participants on cholesterol-lowering medication and also was not seen in subjects who received the grape/pterostilbene combination. ChromaDex adds that there were also slight reductions in body weight in subjects not on cholesterol medication but on pTeroPure.

Following these results, pTeroPure was deemed to be a “promising ingredient in the area of cardiometabolics” by the study’s lead researcher Daniel M. Riche, PharmD, cardiometabolic clinic coordinator at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy.

Results of the study were presented at the American Heart Association’s High Blood Pressure Research 2012 Scientific Sessions.

Pterostilbene has been of interest in other areas of health as well, including cognitive function and antiaging. ChromaDex also recently launched its own line of dietary supplements featuring pTeroPure, called BluScience.