By The University of Osaka Japan
July 19, 2025

Tricaprin, a simple supplement, reversed artery-clogging fat and relieved chest pain in patients with a rare form of heart disease resistant to normal treatments. Credit: Stock

What if the cure for a life-threatening heart condition wasn’t a drug or surgery, but a supplement you could find on a store shelf?

Japanese researchers have uncovered that tricaprin, a dietary supplement, triggered a dramatic reversal of heart disease symptoms in two patients with a rare, treatment-resistant condition. After years of chest pain and failed therapies, the patients experienced relief and even regression of artery-clogging fat deposits. The key wasn’t lowering cholesterol, but breaking down triglycerides inside heart cells—a novel and potentially groundbreaking approach to cardiac care.
A Surprising Heart Remedy

As children, many of us were told to take our vitamins to grow up healthy and strong. Now, scientists in Japan suggest that one particular supplement might do much more—it could help heal a damaged heart.

A study featured in the European Heart Journal by researchers at Osaka University has found that a specific dietary supplement may significantly reverse signs of heart disease in some patients.
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Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a condition where the arteries supplying blood to the heart become narrowed or blocked, often leading to heart attacks. Although treatments like cholesterol-lowering medications and drug-eluting stents (a newer type of stent that delivers medication directly to the artery walls) are widely used, many patients continue to experience poor outcomes. Some individuals do not respond to these conventional therapies at all.

Discovery of a Rare and Resistant CAD Subtype

“Almost 15 years ago, we identified a new type of CAD called triglyceride deposit cardiomyovasculopathy (TGCV), in which the coronary arteries are occluded by triglyceride deposits generated by defective intracellular breakdown of triglycerides in vascular smooth muscle cells,” says lead author of the study Ken-ichi Hirano. “This mechanism makes TGCV distinct from classic cholesterol-induced atherosclerosis, and accounts for patients who are resistant to standard remedies for CAD.”

The research team developed diagnostic guidelines for TGCV and discovered that it is especially common in people with diabetes mellitus and those undergoing hemodialysis. While diagnosing TGCV became possible, finding a successful treatment remained out of reach—until now.
Remarkable Recovery Through a Simple Supplement

“Now we report a remarkable regression of diffuse coronary atherosclerosis in two patients with TGCV,” states Ken-ichi Hirano. “Both had suffered from refractory chest pain and diabetes until diagnosis with TGCV, and subsequent dietary intake of tricaprin led to symptom relief.”

Tricaprin is a commercially available food supplement that promotes lipid breakdown by heart muscle cells. In addition to relieving these patients’ troublesome and painful symptoms, tricaprin also resulted in remarkable regression of the triglyceride build-up in the blood vessels of the heart.

A Novel Mechanism for Treating Atherosclerosis

“While atherosclerosis regression following decreased serum lipid levels is well-described, this is the first report of regression due to increased triglyceride lipolysis within cells, and as such is a conceptually novel treatment for coronary atherosclerosis,” says Ken-ichi Hirano.

Given that not all patients respond to current treatments for CAD, the findings from this study pave the way toward establishing a multi-faceted approach to CAD treatment. The dramatic results achieved by administering a readily available dietary supplement hold promise for patients who would otherwise continue to suffer the debilitating effects of this disease.

Reference: “Remarkable regression of diffuse coronary atherosclerosis in patients with triglyceride deposit cardiomyovasculopathy” by Ken-ichi Hirano, Masahiro Higashi and Kenichi Nakajima, 30 December 2022, European Heart Journal.
DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehac762
https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehac762

The study was funded by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan, and Nihon Medi-physics Co., Ltd.