Principal Investigator: David Heber, M.D., Ph.D.
Institution: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA
The UCLA Center for Dietary Supplements Research: Botanicals (CDSRB) was formed to foster interdisciplinary research to develop systematic evaluation of the safety and efficacy of botanical dietary supplements through achievement of the following specific aims: 1) Identify, characterize and authenticate botanicals intended for use as dietary supplements or already being sold as dietary supplements; 2) Assess the bioavailability and bioactivity of botanical ingredients including phytochemical marker compounds and/or suspected or known active ingredients; 3) Identify active constituents in botanicals and explore their mechanisms of action in well-defined biological systems; 4) Conduct pre-clinical studies in cell culture and in animals; and 5) Conduct phase I and/or II clinical evaluations of botanicals. The Center initially included research projects focused on Chinese red yeast rice, green tea, and St. John's wort, and pilot studies focused on Echinacea, flavonoids, soy isoflavones and phytoestrogens.
Highlighted Publications
Heber D, Lembertas A, Lu QY, Bowerman S, Go VL. An analysis of nine proprietary Chinese red yeast rice dietary supplements: implications of variability in chemical profile and contents. J Altern Complement Med. 2001;7(2):133-139. doi:10.1089/107555301750164181
Li Z, Seeram NP, Lee R, Thames G, Minutti C, Wang H, Heber D. Plasma clearance of lovastatin versus chinese red yeast rice in healthy volunteers. J Altern Complement Med. 2005;11(6):1031-1038. doi:10.1089/acm.2005.11.1031
Lum MR, Potter E, Dang T, Heber D, Hardy M, Hirsch AM. Identification of botanicals and potential contaminants through RFLP and sequencing. Planta Med. 2005;71(9):841-846. doi:10.1055/s-2005-871230
Seeram NP, Lee R, Heber D. Bioavailability of ellagic acid in human plasma after consumption of ellagitannins from pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) juice. Clin Chim Acta. 2004;348(1-2):63-68. doi:10.1016/j.cccn.2004.04.029