Green vegetable juice increases polyunsaturated fatty acid of erythrocyte membrane phospholipid in hypercholesterolaemic patients

Abstract

Treatment with green vegetable juice rich in dark-green leafy and cruciferous vegetables, such as cabbage, was tested in 31 hypercholesterolaemic patients for three weeks. Green vegetable juice supplementation significantly increased the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA; P); 18:2n-6, 20:3n-6, 20:4n-6, 20:5n-3, 22:4n-6, 22:5n-3 and 22:6n-3 of erythrocyte membrane phospholipid and decreased saturated fatty acids (SFA; S): 14:0 and 18:0, and therefore increased the polyunsaturated fatty acids/saturated fatty acids (P/S) ratio markedly from 0.26 ± 0.01 to 0.49 ± 0.01 (p<0.001). Green vegetable juice supplementation increased both n-6 and n-3 PUFA, but the increase of n-3 PUFA was greater than that of n-6 PUFA. Therefore, the n-6/n-3 ratio decreased significantly from 4.29 ± 0.42 to 3.00 ± 0.16 (p<0.05). Plasma thiobarbituric acid reactive substance production decreased, following the green vegetable juice supplementation. These results suggest that green vegetable juice may protect the erythrocyte membrane from oxidative stress, and the decrease in n-6/n-3 and increase in P/S ratio in the erythrocyte membrane phospholipid may be accompanied by rheological and functional changes in erythrocytes in hypercholesterolaemic patients.