Cocoa Products Decrease Low Density Lipoprotein Oxidative Susceptibility but Do Not Affect Biomarkers of Inflammation in Humans

Abstract

Flavonoids and related polyphenolics with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities may play a role in the prevention of cardiovascular disease by decreasing oxidative stress and inflammation. We wished to determine the effects of cocoa extract supplementation on markers of oxidative stress and inflammation. Healthy subjects (n = 25) were studied at baseline, after cocoa supplementation (36.9 g of dark chocolate bar and 30.95 g of cocoa powder drink) for 6 wk and after a 6-wk washout period. Fasting blood and early morning urine were collected at the three time points. Two indices of flavonoid intake, total phenols and oxygen radical absorbance capacity of plasma, were measured after an overnight fast. Neither was affected by supplementation. Measures of oxidative stress included copper-catalyzed LDL oxidation kinetics and urinary F(2) isoprostanes. LDL oxidizability was lower after chocolate supplementation as evidenced by a longer lag time (P < 0.05) of conjugated diene formation (101.0 +/- 20.7 min) compared with baseline (91.3 +/- 18.0 min) and washout (96.4 +/- 7.5 min) phases. There was no effect of chocolate on urinary F(2) isoprostane levels or on markers of inflammation including the whole-blood cytokines, interleukin-1 beta, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, high sensitivity C-reactive protein and P-selectin. In conclusion, cocoa products supplementation in humans affects LDL oxidizability, but not urinary F(2) isoprostanes or markers of inflammation.

The Effects of Dark Chocolate Consumption on Lipid Profile, Fasting Blood Sugar, Liver Enzymes, Inflammation, and Antioxidant Status in Patients with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Pilot study

“…Findings from this study show that cocoa may significantly increase HDL-C, and have no affect on LDL-C levels in healthy subjects for 6 weeks [29] . However, some studies have shown the positive effects of dark chocolate on blood lipids (decreasing LDL-C and increase of HDL-c) and other studies has reported the in effectiveness of DC [11] ; Reasons for this differences may partly be due to the differences in diseases, subjects studied, kind and doses of dark chocolate.…”

“…These flavanols exhibit anti-inflammatory properties, which can modulate TNF-κB expression gene and reducing the inflammatory biommarkers and ROS production [21] . Several studies in this line suggest that DC consumption lead to reduced inflammatory markers, while others report that DC is ineffective on inflammatory markers [29,33] . of each variable were also compared with the baseline values of it by using paired sample t-test.…”

Cocoa Reduces Blood Pressure and Insulin Resistance and Improves Endothelium-Dependent Vasodilation in Hypertensives

“…27 However, flavanol-rich DC did not affect circulating hsCRP or ICAM-1 in our subjects. Similarly, Mathur et al, 46 although demonstrating the antioxidant action of cocoa on the susceptibility of LDL to oxidation in healthy adults, found no effect of cocoa on hsCRP. Also, using a less sensitive agglutination technique for the determination of CRP, Davidsson et al 47 found no change in plasma CRP in children provided ironfortified chocolate drinks.…”

Nutritional Management of Disturbances in Lipoprotein Concentrations

“…Supplementation of cocoa products affects lipid profiles in subjects with cardiovascular-related diseases such as hypercholesterolemia, glucose intolerance, and hypertension as well as healthy individuals [226][227][228]. Consumption of cocoa and dark chocolate increase the concentration of HDL cholesterol [229] and plasma antioxidant capacity, decrease the formation of lipid oxidation products, and inhibit the oxidation of LDL [230]. In a meta-analysis study, cocoa was associated with small decreases in total and LDL cholesterol, but not HDL cholesterol concentrations [231].…”