Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Chitosan, a deacetylated polymer of the polysaccharide chitin, has received increasing attentions due to its potential health benefits, especially in the management of lipid metabolism. This meta-analysis aims to analyze the lipid-lowering effects of chitosan in patients with hypercholesterolemia and hyperlipidemia. Twenty-two trials were included in this meta-analysis. It was found that the levels of triglyceride (TG) (mean difference = −4.39; 95% confidence interval (CI): −7.51, −1.27, P = 0.006 P P P P P > 0.05) was statistically insignificant. We found that the duration of the chitosan treatment significantly affected the level of HDL-C (P non-linearity = 0.018,9). According to the study's findings, chitosan might play an important role in the regulation of blood lipid profile in human. However, larger-scale randomized controlled trials are necessary to make the evidence to be more persuasive.
Zhang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.