Improvement of cardiovascular risk by functional nutrition with plant-derived bioactive ingredients

Abstract

Introduction The metabolic syndrome is associated with insulin resistance, high oxidative stress and increased cardiovascular risk. We have developed functional foods with vegetal bioactive ingredients to test the reversibility of this condition in cardiovascular prevention. Methods The ANTIATERO-ALIM study is a randomized, parallel design nutritional trial testing a functional food diet given 3 months versus control. Functional meals included balsamic vinegar from apples and honey, grape juice enriched with mono- and polyphenols from seeds and skins of red grapes, bread enriched with microelements and tomato juice with rosemary and basil extracts. In total, 200 patients with metabolic syndrome and high cardiovascular risk according to the SCORE chart for Eastern Europe were randomized into 4 groups: gr. 1: functional foods+Ω-3 supplements; gr. 2: functional foods; gr. 3: Ω-3 supplements; and gr. 4: control. The follow-up of the metabolic syndrome was made at inclusion and at 3 months. In all, 181 patients completed the study. We assessed the SCORE risk, HOMA-IR index for insulin resistance, lipidic profile, and oxidative stress. Results The mean age of the patients included in the study was 54.24±10.6, 79 M, 102F, BMI=33.74±4.44 kg/m 2 , waist circumference=108.9±9.95 cm, TGL=182.5±91.86 mg/dl, HDL=44.26±14.18 mg/dl, HOMA-IR=4.88±3.4, and FORMox=322.08±84.75 uFORT. After 3 months the paired t test revealed a significant decrease of oxidative stress in gr. 1, from 308.76±84.16 to 266.97±78.16 uFORT ( p =0.001) and in gr. 3, from 322.78±73.63 to 264.54±80.55 FORT( p =0.001). HOMA-IR decreased significantly in gr. 1 from 5.34±4.09 to 4.38±2.38 ( p =0.011), TGL decreased significantly in gr. 1 from 188.86±96.25 to 160.58±125.51 mg/dl ( p =0.018). HDL increased significantly in gr.2 from 44.44±12.40 to 51.97±9.41 mg/dl ( p p p =0.001) in gr. 1. The improvements by functional nutrition in the parameters defining the metabolic syndrome led to a significant improvement of the SCORE risk in gr. 2 from 5.30 to 4.13 ( p =0.016). Conclusion The long-term effects of this diet could lead to promising results in the reversibility of the metabolic syndrome, improving the risk scores in cardiovascular prevention. Funding Grant CEEX 44/2006 funded by the Romanian Ministry of Research, Program AGRAL.