Effect of the Molecular Weight of Oat β-glucan on Its Ability to Lower Serum Cholesterol

Summary

The purposes of this study were:

1. To determine if a breakfast cereal containing 3g of high molecular weight oat beta-glucan fiber would lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) - cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol) compared to a control cereal containing wheat fiber.
2. To determine if the LDL-cholesterol-lowering effect of oat beta-glucan fiber was reduced when the molecular weight of the fiber was reduced.

Conditions

• Hypercholesterolemia

Interventions

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Wheat bran

21g per day of ready to eat breakfast cereal containing wheat bran with 8g of total dietary fiber and 0.5g beta-glucan.

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

3g high MW

20.2 grams per day of ready to eat cereal containing 6g total dietary fiber and 3g oat beta glucan with high molecular weight

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

4g medium MW

28.5g ready to eat cereal containing 8g total dietary fiber and 4g oat beta glucan with medium molecular weight

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

3g medium MW

21.1g of ready to eat cereal containing 6g total fiber and 3g oat beta glucan with a medium molecular weight

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

4g low MW

28.7g ready to eat cereal containing 8g total dietary fiber and 4g oat beta glucan with low molecular weight

Sponsors & Collaborators

• CreaNutrition, AG

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University of Guelph

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Sydney

  collaborator OTHER

• Laval University

  collaborator OTHER

• Reading Scientific Services Ltd.

  collaborator INDUSTRY

• University of Toronto

  collaborator OTHER

• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Glycemic Index Laboratories, Inc

  lead INDUSTRY

Principal Investigators

• Thomas MS Wolever, MD, PhD · Glycemic Index Laboratories, Inc

• Peter J Wood, PhD · Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

• Susan M Tosh, PhD · Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

• Alison L Gibbs, PhD · Department of Statistics, University of Toronto

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

QUADRUPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

35 Years

Max Age

70 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2008-11-30

Primary Completion

2009-07-31

Completion

2009-08-31

Countries

• Australia
• Canada
• United Kingdom

Study Locations