Tocotrienols may complement antiplatelet drugs, reducing aspirin resistance, says new study

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Recent findings from the NUTRITION human clinical trial (Natural Tocotrienol Against Ischemic Stroke Event)¹ showed that supplementation with the tocotrienol EVNol Suprabio (from ExcelVite, based in Edison, NJ) may decrease aspirin resistance in patients taking blood thinning drugs. In the single-center, randomized double-blind clinical trial, 150 patients who suffered transient ischemic attacks or stroke in the previous six months were assigned to take either placebo, 400 mg of tocotrienol or 800 mg of tocotrienol in addition with aspirin or clopidogrel alone or in combination. While aspirin has been shown to reduce the relative risk of recurrent stroke by inhibiting platelet aggregation, some patients develop aspirin resistance, becoming resistant or only partially responsive to the antiplatelet effects.

While the results showed that there was no decrease in the incidence of aspirin resistance in patients taking aspirin alone, regardless of the dosage of tocotrienols, patients who took both aspirin and clopidogrel had a much higher rate of 40% aspirin resistance in the placebo group, compared to any of the three treatment groups of patients taking aspirin alone. In addition, those taking both aspirin and clopidogrel, as well as either 400 mg or 800 mg of tocotrienol, saw a significant reduction in aspirin resistance.

“Over the past 20 years, Professor Chandan Sen and his research team have elucidated 5 major mechanisms in which tocotrienol protect brain cells from stroke-induced injuries. Pre-clinical study published in 2011 also demonstrates that prophylactic supplementation of tocotrienol (EVNol SupraBio) reduces brain injury post-stroke. Given the promising and significant effect from past studies and the promising results in this NUTRITION Clinical Trial, it underscores another unique effect of EVNol SupraBio and potentially as natural therapeutic natural phytonutrient supporting brain and heart health,” says WH Leong, CEO of ExcelVite, in a press release.

Reference

1. Slivka A et al. “Platelet function in stroke/transient ischemic attack patients treated with tocotrienol.” The FASEB Journal, Published online ahead of print on July 20, 2020