CLINICAL RESEARCH: DIET AND ENDOTHELIAL FUNCTION
Acute Effects of High-Fat Meals Enriched With Walnuts or Olive Oil on Postprandial Endothelial Function
Berenice Cortés, BS*, ,1,
Isabel Núñez, MD ,1,
Montserrat Cofán, PhD,
Rosa Gilabert, MD, PhD,
Ana Pérez-Heras, RD,
Elena Casals, MD, PhD ,
Ramón Deulofeu, PhD and
Emilio Ros, MD, PhD,*
* Departament de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Secció d’Ecografia, Centre de Diagnòstic per l’Imatge, Barcelona, Spain
Unitat de Lípids, Institut Clínic de Malalties Digestives i Metabòliques, Barcelona, Spain
Centre de Diagnòstic Biològic, Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain.
Manuscript received March 22, 2006;
revised manuscript received May 31, 2006,
accepted June 6, 2006.
* Reprint requests and correspondence: Dr. Emilio Ros, Unitat de Lípids, Hospital Clínic, Villarroel 170, 08036 Barcelona, Spain. (Email: eros{at}clinic.ub.es).
OBJECTIVES: We sought to investigate whether the addition of walnuts or olive oil to a fatty meal have differential effects on postprandial vasoactivity, lipoproteins, markers of oxidation and endothelial activation, and plasma asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA).
BACKGROUND: Compared with a Mediterranean diet, a walnut diet has been shown to improve endothelial function in hypercholesterolemic patients. We hypothesized that walnuts would reverse postprandial endothelial dysfunction associated with consumption of a fatty meal.
METHODS: We randomized in a crossover design 12 healthy subjects and 12 patients with hypercholesterolemia to 2 high-fat meal sequences to which 25 g olive oil or 40 g walnuts had been added. Both test meals contained 80 g fat and 35% saturated fatty acids, and consumption of each meal was separated by 1 week. Venipunctures and ultrasound measurements of brachial artery endothelial function were performed after fasting and 4 h after test meals.
RESULTS: In both study groups, flow-mediated dilation (FMD) was worse after the olive oil meal than after the walnut meal (p = 0.006, time-period interaction). Fasting, but not postprandial, triglyceride concentrations correlated inversely with FMD (r = –0.324; p = 0.024). Flow-independent dilation and plasma ADMA concentrations were unchanged, and the concentration of oxidized low-density lipoproteins decreased (p = 0.051) after either meal. The plasma concentrations of soluble inflammatory cytokines and adhesion molecules decreased (p < 0.01) independently of meal type, except for E-selectin, which decreased more (p = 0.033) after the walnut meal.
CONCLUSIONS: Adding walnuts to a high-fat meal acutely improves FMD independently of changes in oxidation, inflammation, or ADMA. Both walnuts and olive oil preserve the protective phenotype of endothelial cells.
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Abbreviations and Acronyms
| | ADMA = asymmetric dimethylarginine | ALA =  -linolenic acid | | FID = flow-independent dilation | | FMD = flow-mediated dilation | | MUFA = monounsaturated fatty acids | | NO = nitric oxide | | PUFA = polyunsaturated fatty acids | | sICAM-1 = soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 | | SFA = saturated fatty acids | | sTNF-R = soluble tumor necrosis factor receptors | | sVCAM-1 = soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 |
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