Read the full article by Neha Grover in NDTV Food
Foxtail millet comes from an annually-grown grass, but during the milling process, it loses the bran from the hard outer layer of the grain from the seed. The research team helmed by Zhuoyu Li and colleagues earlier found a protein – foxtail millet bran peroxidase (FMBP) – in foxtail millet bran that could fight the migration of colon cancer cells. They expanded their research to see if the protein could also help prevent heart disease – atherosclerosis.
To look for a natural cure, the research team treated human aortic smooth muscle cells and monocytes in Petri dishes with FMBP. They realised that the millet protein reduced the expression of two key proteins involved in atherosclerosis.
Then, the team conducted the experiment on genetically prone atherosclerosis mice. It was seen that mice that were then treated with either FMBP or a statin had far fewer plaques than untreated mice.
The results of the study were published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
