Abstract
The consumption of antioxidant-rich foods such as virgin olive oil (VOO) promotes high-density lipoprotein (HDL) anti-atherogenic capacities. Intake of functional VOOs (enriched with olive/thyme phenolic compounds (PCs)) also improves HDL functions, but the gene expression changes behind these benefits are not fully understood. Our aim was to determine whether these functional VOOs could enhance the expression of cholesterol efflux-related genes. In a randomized, double-blind, crossover, controlled trial, 22 hypercholesterolemic subjects ingested for three weeks 25 mL/day of: (1) a functional VOO enriched with olive oil PCs (500 mg/kg); (2) a functional VOO enriched with olive oil (250 mg/kg) and thyme PCs (250 mg/kg; FVOOT), and; (3) a natural VOO (olive oil PCs: 80 mg/kg, control intervention). We assessed whether these interventions improved the expression of cholesterol efflux-related genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reactions. The FVOOT intervention upregulated the expression of CYP27A1 (p = 0.041 and p = 0.053, versus baseline and the control intervention, respectively), CAV1 (p = 0.070, versus the control intervention), and LXRβ, RXRα, and PPARβ/δ (p = 0.005, p = 0.005, and p = 0.038, respectively, relative to the baseline). The consumption of a functional VOO enriched with olive oil and thyme PCs enhanced the expression of key cholesterol efflux regulators, such as CYP27A1 and nuclear receptor-related genes.
Highlights
Virgin olive oil (VOO) consumption protects against the development of cardiovascular diseases due to its richness in phenolic compounds (PCs) and other bioactive compounds such as monounsaturated fatty acids [1,2,3,4]
VOOs, supplemented with olive oil PCs or other complementary PCs such as those from thyme, has been shown to improve high-density lipoprotein (HDL) functional traits and lipid profile [6,7,8,9,10], as well as other molecular mechanisms potentially involved in the development of cardiovascular diseases [11,12]
The characteristics of the functional oils were: (1) a functional VOO enriched with an extra quantity of olive oil PCs
Summary
Virgin olive oil (VOO) consumption protects against the development of cardiovascular diseases due to its richness in phenolic compounds (PCs) and other bioactive compounds such as monounsaturated fatty acids [1,2,3,4]. Beyond the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect attributed to olive oil PCs [15,16], their capacity to modulate gene expression is essential to explain their health effects and those of the dietary patterns in which they are present, such as the Mediterranean diet [17,18,19]. The benefits of this healthy dietary pattern could be partially attributed to the protective capacities of VOO bioactive compounds on atherosclerosis and neoplastic processes [20]. Thyme bioactive compounds such as PCs and essential oils have been shown to be able to promote HDL cholesterol levels and to decrease low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations in diverse research models [21]
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