Different effects of palmitic and stearic acid-enriched diets on serum lipids and lipoproteins and plasma cholesteryl ester transfer protein activity in healthy young women

Abstract

The effects of palmitic and stearic acid-enriched diets on serum lipids, lipoproteins, apolipoproteins (apo) A–I and B, and plasma cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) activity were examined in 12 healthy young women. Subjects followed the two experimental diets for 4 weeks according to a randomized crossover design. Both experimental diet periods were preceded by consumption of a baseline diet for 2 weeks. The diets provided 37% of total energy intake (E%) as fat, and differed only with respect to fatty acid composition. There was a substitution of 5E% of palmitic acid or stearic acid in the experimental diets for 5E% of monounsaturated fatty acids in the baseline diet. After the palmitic acid diet, serum total and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and apo A–I concentrations were higher (8%, P = .015, 9%, P = .040, and 11%, P = .011, respectively) and mean serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentration tended to be higher (8%, P = .077) as compared with values after the stearic acid diet. Plasma CETP activity increased in the palmitic acid diet as compared with the stearic acid diet (12%, P = .006). In conclusion, palmitic acid and stearic acid-enriched diets had different effects on serum lipids and lipoproteins and also on plasma CETP activity in young healthy women.