Natural Factors is introducing a Cholesterol Formula containing Sytrinol and SterolSource plant sterols, both of which are supplied by SourceOne.
Jesse Lopez, president and CEO of SourceOne, said that the agreement is particularly rewarding since Sytrinol was developed by a Canadian company, KGK Synergise, in cooperation with the USDA.
SourceOne was granted the exclusive worldwide license to the intellectual property and patents for the use of Sytrinol in dietary supplements in 2003, and has since entered into agreements in the US market with Seltzer Nutritional Technologies and Source Naturals.
The citrus-peel derived ingredient is rich in polymethoxylated flavones (PMFs) and tocotrienols. Clinical trials have demonstrated that it acts synergistically to reduce total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides by 23 per cent, 21 per cent and 26 per cent respectively.
A study conducted by KGK Synergise and the USDA and published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry in May 2004 claimed to be the first to show that PMEs can lower cholesterol.
In fact, PMFs were seen to have the most potent cholesterol-lowering effect of any other citrus flavonoid.
"We believe that PMFs have the potential to rival and even beat the cholesterol-lowering effect of some prescription drugs, without the risk of side effects," said Dr Elzbieta Kurowska, lead investigator of the study and vice president of research at KGK Synergize in Ontario, Canada.
The risk for a fatal heart attack is thought to be about five times higher in people with a cholesterol level of 300 mg/dL or more than in those with a cholesterol level below 200 mg/dL.
Health professionals are increasingly advising people with high cholesterol to tackle it using dietary means rather than drugs such as stains, which can have serious side effect.
Sytrinol is not believed to have any side effects.