Are Total and Individual Dietary Lignans Related to Cardiovascular Disease and Its Risk Factors in Postmenopausal Women? A Nationwide Study.

Anna Maria Witkowska,Wojciech Drygas,Anna Waśkiewicz,Andrzej Pająk,Danuta Szcześniewska,Urszula Stepaniak,Małgorzata Elżbieta Zujko

doi:10.3390/nu10070865

Abstract

The study objectives were to examine total and individual lignan intakes and their dietary sources in postmenopausal Polish women and to investigate the relationship between lignan intake and the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD), hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and central obesity. A total of 2599 postmenopausal women, participants of the Multi-centre National Population Health Examination Surveys (WOBASZ and WOBASZ II) were selected. Of them, 916 had a history of CVD. Nutritional data were collected using a single 24-h dietary recall. Data on lignan content in food, i.e., lariciresinol (LARI), matairesinol (MAT), pinoresinol (PINO) and secoisolariciresinol (SECO), were collected from the available lignan databases. In postmenopausal women, total and individual lignan intakes (SECO, PINO, MAT) were not associated with the prevalence of CVD and its risk factors. The intake of LARI was linked by 30% to the reduced odds for hypercholestrolemia. This study reinforces the existing concept that dietary total lignans are not associated with the prevalence of CVD, and provides further evidence that they are not linked to CVD risk factors such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and central obesity. However, the intake of LARI should be taken into consideration in further studies with regard to its potentially beneficial effect in hypercholesterolemia.

Highlights

Lignans are plant-derived diphenolic compounds formed by the dimerization of two cinnamic acid residues that are widely distributed in seeds, grains, legumes, fruit and vegetables
We showed an association of the dietary intake of total polyphenols in this group of postmenopausal women with lower prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD), but it was not found for the total dietary antioxidant intake [18]
We found that the general sources of dietary lignans for Polish postmenopausal women (75–77% intake), considering the amounts that have been ingested, are vegetables (37–38% total dietary intake), nuts and seeds (23–27%) as well as beverages (13–14%), mostly tea

Summary

Introduction

Lignans are plant-derived diphenolic compounds formed by the dimerization of two cinnamic acid residues that are widely distributed in seeds, grains, legumes, fruit and vegetables. In the human gastrointestinal tract, the enterolignan precursors, i.e., secoisolariciresinol, matairesinol, pinoresinol, lariciresinol, are metabolized by anaerobic bacteria to enterolignans, which demonstrate antioxidant properties as well as estrogenic activity [3,4]. As it has been recently reviewed, lignans possess anti-aging properties [5]. Individual lignans such as matairesinol and secoisolariciresinol have been favorably related to the parameters of vascular inflammation and endothelial dysfunction [13]

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion