Anti-hyperlipidemia of garlic by reducing the level of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein: A meta-analysis.
Level 1 - systematic review of randomized trials
Systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials
PubMed 29718835 · doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000010255
What was done
A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies from PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library (through July 14, 2017) examining the effect of garlic on blood lipid parameters. Methodological quality was evaluated using Cochrane risk of bias recommendations. Standardized mean differences (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for total cholesterol (TC), LDL, HDL, and triglycerides (TG). Publication bias was evaluated using Egger's method.
What was found
A total of 14 eligible papers (published 1981–2016) of moderate to high quality were analyzed. Garlic supplementation significantly reduced total cholesterol (SMD = -1.26, 95% CI: -1.86 to -0.66) and LDL (SMD = -1.07, 95% CI: -1.67 to -0.47). HDL initially showed a statistically significant increase (SMD = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.06 to 0.94), but this result reversed after removing some studies. There was no significant difference in TG between groups (SMD = -0.16, 95% CI: -0.87 to 0.55). Egger's test showed no significant publication bias for TC (p = .0625), LDL (p = .0770), HDL (p = .2293), or TG (p = .3436).
Why it matters
The findings synthesize evidence showing garlic effectively lowers total cholesterol and LDL, though it does not reliably improve triglycerides or HDL.
Limits
The abstract omits total participant sample size, specific garlic formulations, dosages, and intervention durations. Findings for HDL were unstable during sensitivity analysis, and exact statistical heterogeneity metrics are not reported in the abstract.
Cited by
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