Effects of Policosanol in Patients With Metabolic Syndrome: A Six-Month Study
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Background: The metabolic syndrome comprises a set of cardiovascular risk factors represented by obesity of central distribution, dyslipidemias, glucose metabolism abnormalities and arterial hypertension, closely associated with insulin resistance. Policosanol is a mixture of high molecular weight alcohols purified from sugar cane wax with cholesterol-lowering and antioxidant effects. The aim of this study is to investigate in the medium term the effects of policosanol in patients with metabolic syndrome, as well as its safety and tolerability. Methods: This phase IV study had a double-blind, randomized and controlled design, with two parallel groups that received policosanol (10 mg/day) or placebo for 6 months. The study included patients with metabolic syndrome, of both sexes, aged between 25 and 70 years. As a primary efficacy variable, the effects on oxidative stress were evaluated, while the effects on lipids profile variables were considered as a secondary efficacy variable. Statistical analysis of the data was performed according to the intention-to-treat method. Results: The study included 100 patients with metabolic syndrome (81 men, 19 women) (average age: 51 years). At the end of 6 months of treatment, policosanol significantly reduced the redox index with respect to the initial values and with respect to the placebo group. Policosanol significantly reduced levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), as well as increased serum levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), while triglyceride levels although reduced at the end of treatment, this reduction was not significant. The policosanol was safe and well tolerate; it did not affect the physical and laboratory parameters investigated, with the exception of a significant and favorable reduction in the levels of apolipoprotein (Apo) B. Conclusions: It is concluded that policosanol therapy for 6 months produces improvements on oxidative stress in patients with metabolic syndrome, in addition to a beneficial effect on their lipid profile, being safe and well tolerated. J Endocrinol Metab. 2020;10(2):36-44 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jem642
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.003 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".