In hypercholesterolemic men, diets low in fat (especially saturated fat) and diets rich in monounsaturated fats improve endothelial function.

Insulin resistance, or the relative inability of insulin to facilitate the disposal of glucose in tissues, is considered to be a risk factor for both diabetes and coronary heart disease (CHD). In 1988 ªSyndrome Xº was [1] first described as a cluster of pathophysiologic phenomena including insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia, and abdominal obesity.The relation between diet and chronic disease is well established, although there is debate over the details of this relation. In general, high intakes of dietary fat have been associated with obesity and its comorbid conditions, including heart disease and diabetes [2]. All these factors are related to the globalization of the ªWesternº lifestyle and dietary habits. Insulin resistance usually precedes the diagnosis of Type II (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus by Diabetologia (2001) Abstract Aims/hypothesis. Insulin resistance usually precedes the diagnosis of Type II (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus. However, in most patients, the clinical expression of the disease could be prevented by dietary and lifestyle changes. We investigated the effects of a diet enriched in monounsaturated fatty acids (Mediterranean diet) and a low fat, high-carbohydrate diet on in vivo and in vitro glucose metabolism in 59 young subjects (30 men and 29 women). Methods. We carried out an intervention dietary study with a saturated fat phase and two randomized-crossover dietary periods: a high-carbohydrate diet and a Mediterranean diet for 28 days each. We analysed the plasma lipoproteins fractions, free fatty acids, insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake in isolated monocytes at the end of the three dietary periods.Results. In comparison to the saturated fat diet, the CHO and Mediterranean diets induced a decrease of LDL-cholesterol (p < 0.001) and HDL-cholesterol (p < 0.001). Steady-state plasma glucose decreased (p = 0.023) and basal and insulin-stimulated 2-deoxiglucose uptake in peripheral monocytes increased in both diets (CHO and Mediterranean), (p = 0.007) indicating an improvement in insulin sensitivity. Fasting free fatty acids plasma values were correlated positively with steady state plasma glucose (r = 0.45; p < 0.0001). In addition, there was an inverse correlation between the mean glucose of the steady state plasma glucose period and logarithmic values of basal (r = ±0.34; p = 0.003) and insulin stimulated glucose uptake in monocytes (r = ±0.32; p = 0.006). Conclusion/interpretation. Isocaloric substitution of carbohydrates and monounsaturated fatty acids for saturated fatty acids improved insulin sensitivity in vivo and in vitro, with an increase in glucose disposal. Both diets are an adequate alternatives for improving glucose metabolism in healthy young men and women. [Diabetologia (2001

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Consumption of the MedDiet induces a reduction in endothelial damage and dysfunction, which is associated with an improvement in the regenerative capacity of the endothelium, in comparison with 2 other diets.

Consumption of an olive oil-enriched meal does not activate NF-kappaB in monocytes as do butter and walnut-enriched meals. This effect could enhance the cardioprotective effect of olive oil-enriched diets.

BackgroundPrevious studies have shown that acute intake of high-phenol virgin olive oil reduces pro-inflammatory, pro-oxidant and pro-thrombotic markers compared with low phenols virgin olive oil, but it still remains unclear whether effects attributed to its phenolic fraction are exerted at transcriptional level in vivo. To achieve this goal, we aimed at identifying expression changes in genes which could be mediated by virgin olive oil phenol compounds in the human.ResultsPostprandial gene expression microarray analysis was performed on peripheral blood mononuclear cells during postprandial period. Two virgin olive oil-based breakfasts with high (398 ppm) and low (70 ppm) content of phenolic compounds were administered to 20 patients suffering from metabolic syndrome following a double-blinded, randomized, crossover design. To eliminate the potential effect that might exist in their usual dietary habits, all subjects followed a similar low-fat, carbohydrate rich diet during the study period. Microarray analysis identified 98 differentially expressed genes (79 underexpressed and 19 overexpressed) when comparing the intake of phenol-rich olive oil with low-phenol olive oil. Many of these genes seem linked to obesity, dyslipemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Among these, several genes seem involved in inflammatory processes mediated by transcription factor NF-κB, activator protein-1 transcription factor complex AP-1, cytokines, mitogen-activated protein kinases MAPKs or arachidonic acid pathways.ConclusionThis study shows that intake of virgin olive oil based breakfast, which is rich in phenol compounds is able to repress in vivo expression of several pro-inflammatory genes, thereby switching activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to a less deleterious inflammatory profile. These results provide at least a partial molecular basis for reduced risk of cardiovascular disease observed in Mediterranean countries, where virgin olive oil represents a main source of dietary fat. Admittedly, other lifestyle factors are also likely to contribute to lowered risk of cardiovascular disease in this region.

Scope Our aim was to investigate whether the inflammatory state associated to metabolic syndrome (MetS) patients is affected by diets with different fat quality and quantity. Methods and results Seventy‐five subjects from LIPGENE cohort were included in this feeding trial and randomly assigned to one of four diets: high saturated fatty acids (HSFA); high monounsaturated fatty acids (HMUFA) and two low‐fat, high complex carbohydrate (LFHCC) diets, supplemented with long‐chain n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LFHCC n‐3) or placebo (LFHCC), for 12 weeks each. A postprandial fat challenge, reflecting the intervention dietary fat composition, was conducted post‐intervention. The HMUFA diet significantly reduced postprandial nuclear transcription factor‐kappaB (NF‐kB) activity and the nuclear p65 protein levels relative to fasting values (p < 0.05). Furthermore, we observed a postprandial decrease in this protein with the HMUFA diet compared with the HSFA and LFHCC diets (p < 0.05). The postprandial response of inhibitory molecule from NF‐kB mRNA levels increased with the HMUFA diet compared with the HSFA and LFHCC n‐3 diets (p < 0.05). Postprandial tumor necrosis factor‐α and Metalloproteinase 9 mRNA levels were also reduced after the HMUFA diet compared with the HSFA diet (p < 0.05). Conclusion Our results indicate that the long‐term consumption of a healthy diet model with HMUFA attenuates the postprandial inflammatory state associated with MetS.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) represents a major global health burden. However, despite the well-known influence that dietary habits exert over the progression of this disease, there are no well-established and scientifically sound dietary approaches to prevent the onset of clinical outcomes in secondary prevention. The objective of the CORonary Diet Intervention with Olive oil and cardiovascular PREVention study (CORDIOPREV study, clinical trials number NCT00924937) is to compare the ability of a Mediterranean diet rich in virgin olive oil versus a low-fat diet to influence the composite incidence of cardiovascular events after 7 years, in subjects with documented CHD at baseline. For this purpose, we enrolled 1002 coronary patients from Spain. Baseline assessment (2009–12) included detailed interviews and measurements to assess dietary, social and biological variables. Results of baseline characteristics: The CORDIOPREV study in Spain describes a population with a high BMI (37.2% overweight and 56.3% obesity), with a median of LDL-cholesterol of 88.5 mg/dL (70.6% of the patients having <100 mg/dL, and 20.3% patients < 70 mg/dL). 9.6% of the participants were active smokers, and 64.4% were former smokers. Metabolic Syndrome was present in 58% of this population. To sum up, we describe here the rationale, methods and baseline characteristics of the CORDIOPREV study, which will test for the first time the efficacy of a Mediterranean Diet rich in extra virgin olive oil as compared with a low-fat diet on the incidence of CHD recurrence in a long term follow-up study.