Providing mothers who smoke with personalised results about the indoor air quality of their homes along with a motivational interview is feasible and has an effect on improving household air quality. Participants found the intervention understandable and acceptable. Taken overall, the results suggest that a future large-scale trial using measurements of indoor air quality as part of a complex intervention to reduce children's SHS exposure should be explored.

Epidemiological evidence indicates that high consumption of tomatoes and tomato-based products reduces the risk of chronic diseases such as CVD and cancer. Such potential benefits are often ascribed to high concentrations of lycopene present in tomato products. Mainly from the results of in vitro studies, potential biological mechanisms by which carotenoids could protect against heart disease and cancer have been suggested. These include cholesterol reduction, inhibition of oxidation processes, modulation of inflammatory markers, enhanced intercellular communication, inhibition of tumourigenesis and induction of apoptosis, metabolism to retinoids and antiangiogenic effects. However, with regard to CVD, results from intervention studies gave mixed results. Over fifty human intervention trials with lycopene supplements or tomato-based products have been conducted to date, the majority being underpowered. Many showed some beneficial effects but mostly on non-established cardiovascular risk markers such as lipid peroxidation, DNA oxidative damage, platelet activation and inflammatory markers. Only a few studies showed improvement in lipid profiles, C reactive protein and blood pressure. However, recent findings indicate that lycopene could exert cardiovascular protection by lowering HDL-associated inflammation, as well as by modulating HDL functionality towards an antiatherogenic phenotype. Furthermore, in vitro studies indicate that lycopene could modulate T lymphocyte activity, which would also inhibit atherogenic processes and confer cardiovascular protection. These findings also suggest that HDL functionality deserves further consideration as a potential early marker for CVD risk, modifiable by dietary factors such as lycopene.

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This article explores mothers' narratives of changing home smoking behaviours after participating in an intervention (Reducing Families' Exposure to Smoking in the Home [REFRESH]) aimed at reducing families' exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) in homes in Scotland. An analysis of qualitative findings illuminates quantitative changes in levels of SHS exposure. Prospective quantitative and qualitative data were drawn from 21 smoking mothers with at least one child under 6 years. Quantitative change was measured by home air quality, i.e. fine particulate matter <2.5μg (PM(2.5)). These measurements guided the organization of mothers into categories of change (smoke-free home at baseline [SFB], smoke-free home at final, some change and no change [NC]). Qualitative data from 17 mothers with non-SFB were analysed thematically within and across these categories. Three comparative case studies illustrate the varying changes made, barriers to change and how mothers valued such changes. The outcomes varied post-intervention, with homes smoke-free, partially smoke-free or making NC. The changes in home smoking behaviour were incremental, yet beneficial to reducing SHS exposure, and related to the nature of the restrictions and personal circumstances in the home pre-intervention. Across all change categories, mothers valued the changes they had made and expressed an intention to increase the changes.

Preschool children's exposure to SHS in homes where the mother smokes is considerable. Interventions and policy development to increase parental awareness of the health effects of SHS and provide parents with the confidence to implement smoke-free households are required to reduce the SHS exposure of preschool age children.

Scope: Epidemiological evidence suggests that lycopene is potentially cardio-protective. Recruitment and activation of T cells in the arterial wall is a critical process during atherogenesis, but the effects of lycopene on T-cell response remain to be elucidated. We aimed to determine whether lycopene could modulate T-cell function and activity. Methods and results: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 16 healthy adults were cultured in the presence of lycopene-enriched liposomes (0-2.9 g lycopene/mL) with or without mitogens. Cell cycle as well as the expression of CD69 (marker of early cell activation), CD25 (IL-2 receptor), and CD11a (late activation marker) were measured in T cells, T-helper cells, and T-cytotoxic cells by flow cytometry. IL-2 secretion and cell proliferation were determined by ELISA and [3 H]-thymidine incorporation, respectively. Lycopene significantly inhibited lymphocyte proliferation (up to 40%) in activated cells. Lycopene also significantly inhibited CD69 expression (by up to 12%) as well as IL-2 secretion (by up to 29%). However, CD25 and CD11a expression as well as the cell-cycle profile were unaffected by lycopene. Conclusion: Lycopene influences lymphocyte proliferation through its effects on processes involved in early cellular activation, providing one possible mechanism to explain the beneficial effects of tomato-rich diets against cardiovascular disease.

Identifying dietary components that modulate blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk markers could represent a safe, cost-effective means of helping to tackle CVD. We recently showed that daily consumption of three portions of whole grain foods (mixture of wheat and oats) could reduce CVD risk in healthy, normotensive, middle-aged people by significantly lowering systolic blood pressure (1). Increased consumption of oats has also been associated with reducing blood cholesterol seemingly due the presence of β-glucans, a group of soluble fibres with cholesterol-lowering properties (2,3) . The aim of this pilot study was to assess the effects of increased oats' consumption (minimum 100 g/day) on established risk markers for CVD.A dietary randomised controlled trial involving 23 middle aged healthy individuals (4 men and 19 women) was carried out. After a 4-week run-in period on a refined diet, volunteers were randomly allocated to a control (refined diet) or an oats group for 12 weeks. Outcome measures were blood pressure, serum lipids as well as inflammatory markers, and insulin sensitivity. Exclusion criteria included history of CVD, diabetes or previously diagnosed impaired glucose tolerance (fasting glucose greater than 7·0 mM), untreated thyroid disorders, or systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressures over 160 and 99 mm Hg respectively. Volunteers with rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmune disorders or cancer, or taking any medication or supplements known to affect any outcome measures were also excluded.The mean BMI was 24·9 (SD 4·5) and 25·3 (SD 4·1) for the oats and control group respectively. The weight of the volunteers remained unchanged during the intervention. None of the treatments significantly affected blood pressure or serum cholesterol concentration.Furthermore, insulin sensitivity, serum triglycerides, amyloid A, IL-6 and hsCRP concentrations remained also unchanged after intervention.These results suggest that the daily consumption of 100 g of oats do not reduce cardiovascular disease risk markers in healthy middle aged individuals.

Increased lycopene intake might have cardiovascular benefits, potentially through anti-inflammatory mechanisms. We recently showed that lycopene can influence lymphocyte activity by modulating processes involved in early cellular activation. T lymphocytes comprise different subsets, T cytotoxic, T helper 1 (Th1), T helper 2 (Th2) and T regulatory cells (Treg). We aimed to determine whether lycopene could specifically modulate T-cell subsets function and activity. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 11 healthy adults were cultured for 18hr to 60h in the presence of lycopene-enriched liposomes (0-1.18μg lycopene/ml) with or without mitogens. The secretion of cytokines representative of Th1,Th2 and Treg activities were measured by ELISA (IL-2, IL-1β, IL-10, IFN-γ and TGF-β) or cytometric bead array (IL-4, IL-10, IL17 and IFN-γ). The population profile of Tc (CD3+/CD8+), Th (CD3+/CD4+), Treg (CD4+/CD25+), and the Treg subsets nTreg (CD4+/CD25+/FoxP3+) and iTreg (CD4+/CD25+/IL-10+) was determined by flow cytometry. After 18h incubation, IL-2 concentration in the medium was significantly reduced (-29%, p=0.001) in the presence of lycopene (1.18μg/mL). Similar effects were observed after 36h and 60h culture for IFN-γ (-23%, p=0.015), Il-10 (-30%, p=0.023), IL-17 (-30%, p=0.019) but not IL-4 or TGF-β. The proportion of Treg cell was also significantly increased by 36% (p=0.001) in the presence of lycopene (1.18μg/mL) compared with non-treated activated cells. Furthermore, the proportions of iTreg cells were significantly increased by after incubation with lycopene while the proportion of nTreg cells decreased (-20.5 %, p=0.049). We conclude that increased lycopene intake may be beneficial against atherogenesis by modulating T lymphocyte function, particularly in relation toTh1 and Treg.