Flavanols exert cardiovascular health benefits in humans by altering gene transcription levels in white blood cells

Abstract

Epidemiological evidence highlights that a diet rich in flavanols reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. The molecular mechanisms by which flavanols establish their vascular health effects in humans are still not fully clear.In a randomized, double‐blind, placebo controlled study gene transcription levels were determined in white blood cells of male smokers before and at the end of the 8‐weeks supplementation of daily 200 mg of monomeric and oligomeric grape‐seed flavanols. Upon approval by the Medical Ethical Committee of the Maastricht University and Academic Hospital Maastricht, The Netherlands, the study was conducted in accordance with the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki of 1975 as revised in 2008.Flavanols significantly altered expression of genes mediating inflammation, redox processes, lipid metabolism and endothelial homeostasis. The beneficial regulation of transcriptional pathways involved in the pathology of cardiovascular diseases is suggested a major subcellular mechanism by which flavanols sustain vascular health in humans.