Eating Buckwheat Cookies Is Associated with the Reduction in Serum Levels of Myeloperoxidase and Cholesterol: A Double Blind Crossover Study in Day-Care Centre Staffs

Abstract

Buckwheat food is a good source of antioxidants, e.g. rutin, and other beneficial substances. Here we investigated the effects of the intake of common buckwheat (low rutin content) and tartary buckwheat cookies (high rutin content) on selected clinical markers. A double blind crossover study was performed among female day-care centre staffs (N = 62) from five day-care centres. Participants were randomly divided into two groups. The first group initially consumed four common buckwheat cookies per day (16.5 mg rutin equivalents/day) for two weeks, while the second group consumed four tartary buckwheat cookies per day (359.7 mg rutin equivalents/day). Then the groups switched their type of cookies and consumed them for another two weeks. We monitored selected clinical markers related to cardiovascular disease and lower airway inflammation, lung function, and subjective breathing difficulties in the staffs. Intake of tartary buckwheat cookies reduced the serum level of myeloperoxidase (MPO) by a factor 0.84 ( p = 0.02). When grouping the two types of buckwheat cookies together, there was a reduction of total serum cholesterol ( p < 0.001) and HDL-cholesterol ( p < 0.001) during the study period, with improved lung vital capacity ( p < 0.001). The degree of reduction in total and HDL cholesterol levels was similar in staffs with low and high body mass index (cut off 25). In conclusion, intake of tartary buckwheat cookies with high level of the antioxidant rutin may reduce levels of MPO, an indicator of inflammation. Moreover, intake of both types of buckwheat cookies may lower cholesterol levels.Keywords: antioxidant experiment; buckwheat; cholesterol; inflammation; lung function Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2011, 225 (2), 123-130. © Tohoku University Medical PressThere is an increased interest in the beneficial health effects of dietary antioxidants intake, because they can help to prevent different types of diseases. Buckwheat is a good source of antioxidants, biologically high-valued amino acids (Krkoškova and Mrazova 2005;Jiang et al. 2007), dietary fiber (Bonafaccia et al. 2003), and minerals such as zinc, copper and manganese (Ikeda and Yamashita 1994). In Shanxi province, China, both common (Fagopyrum esculentum) and tartary (Fagopyrum tataricum) buckwheats are used to improve the health of patients with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (Wieslander et al. 2000). A previous experimental buckwheat study concluded that intake of common buckwheat leaf tea could prevent further development of leg edema (Ihme et al. 1996), and a study by He et al. (1995) showed a cholesterol-lowering effect of buckwheat. However, there are very few studies on the health effects of buckwheat, especially buckwheat products in humans. Japanese studies indicate that some of the beneficial effects of buckwheat may be related to the low digestibility of buckwheat (Ikeda and Yamashita 1994). Skrabanja et al. (2001) reported beneficial effects of starch in common buckwheat with respect to insulin response. Buckwheat is also a good source of r...

Effect of Rutin in Buckwheat Noodle on Lipid Metabolism in Rats

“…Serum total cholesterol levels in day-care staff were found to be reduced by eating cookies prepared with common or tartary buckwheat; however, no differences were observed between the two buckwheat groups (Wieslander et al, 2011). Buckwheat is rich in rutin, and its content in tartary buckwheat is estimated to be approximately 100 times that in common buckwheat (Yasuda et al, 1992).…”

“…Flavonoids are reported to have beneficial biological activities, such as the prevention of atherosclerosis and obesity, through their antioxidative or anti-inflammatory effects (Grassi et al, 2010;Choi et al, 2006;Rivera et al, 2008). Wieslander et al (2011) demonstrated that the intake of common (16.5) or tartary (359.7 mg rutin-equivalent/day) buckwheat cookies resulted in a reduction of subjects' serum total cholesterol level. Moreover, He et al (1995) indicated that buckwheat intake was associated with lower serum total and LDL cholesterol levels in their epidemiologic study.…”

The contribution of paraoxonase 1 and myeloperoxidase to HDL-cholesterol functionality

“…Roberts et al [73] demonstrated that a high-fibre, low fat diet decreased the circulating MPO activity and the atherosclerosis risk in healthy adolescents. Additionally, the regular consumption of buckwheat cookies rich in rutin brought about lower activity of the circulating MPO in middle-aged females [91]. Similarly, a hypocaloric diet rich in cocoa extract markedly decreased the circulating MPO activity, but also the oxidised LDL-C level in humans [33].…”

Cat, Dog and Horse Allergens in Swedish Day Care Centres-Associations with Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) among Day Care Centre Staff

“…All participants answered a general questionnaire with standardized questions on occupation, asthma, chronic diseases, demographic data and the home environment (Wieslander et al, 2011;Norbäck et al, 2015). Each subject was allergy tested in the beginning of the study by skin prick tests (ALK Abello SA, Madrid, Spain) for birch, timothy, mug worth, cat, dog, horse, house dust mites (D. pteronyssinus and D. farinae) and two types of mould (Cladosporium and Alternaria).…”

“…The study was a part of a dietary crossover intervention study. For this indoor environment study, clinical data from all three investigations were used since for each participant the three tests were balanced with respect to the dietary intervention (Wieslander et al, 2011).…”