The effect of artichoke on blood lipids Original paper

Artichoke extract has been studied for its effects on the liver, with some evidence suggesting that it may improve markers of liver health in certain populations (e.g., people with NAFLD) Given the importance of the liver in the metabolism of cholesterol and fatty acids, artichoke extract may also have an effect on blood lipids, including triglycerides and LDL cholesterol. However, it is not clear what impact artichoke extract has on these blood lipids.

This meta-analysis of 14 randomized controlled trials assessed the effect of artichoke extract and artichoke juice supplementation on blood lipids. The trials included 960 participants (ages 18 to 70), typically with at least one health condition such as hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol), nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), chronic kidney disease, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and overweight or obesity with impaired fasting glucose. The dosage of artichoke used ranged from 50 to 2,700 milligrams per day, and the study durations ranged from 5 to 12 weeks. The blood lipids assessed were total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-C, and HDL-C. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane collaboration risk-of-bias tool.

In the risk of bias assessment, 4 studies were rated as fair quality, and the remaining 10 trials were rated as good quality.

Compared to the placebo group, artichoke supplementation reduced total cholesterol (mean difference: −17.01 mg/dL, significant heterogeneity) and LDL-C (mean difference: −17.48 mg/dL, significant heterogeneity) but had no effect on HDL-C.

This paper erroneously reported the same data for both the triglyceride and total cholesterol outcomes. Upon inspection, it was noted that the data appeared correct for total cholesterol, but not for triglycerides, suggesting that the total cholesterol data were inadvertently entered as the triglyceride data (possibly due to the similar acronyms; TG and TC). As a result, this study does not provide reliable data on the effect of artichoke extract on triglycerides.