Vascular and Platelet Effects of Tomato Soffritto Intake in Overweight and Obese Subjects.

Tomatoes are known for their numerous health benefits, including antioxidants, anti-cancer, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-neurodegenerative, antiplatelet, and cardio-protective properties. However, their potential health benefits in the Mediterranean diet's popular soffritto remain largely unexplored in scientific research. The objective was to evaluate the effects of soffritto intake on platelet activity, vascular endothelial function, weight, lipid profile, and blood parameters. In a prospective, controlled, randomized two-arm longitudinal cross-over trial, 40 overweight and obese individuals received 100 g/day of soffritto, or a control, for 42 days. The primary outcome was the effect on vascular endothelial function and platelet activity. As exploratory secondary outcomes, anthropometric measures, serum lipid profile, and hemogram profile were measured before and after a 6-week intervention with or without soffritto supplementation. Compared with the control group, soffritto supplementation for six weeks improved collagen-induced (-5.10 ± 3.06%) platelet aggregation (p < 0.05). In addition, after six weeks, a reduction in ADP-induced aggregation (-3.67 ± 1.68%) was also only observed in the soffritto group (p < 0.05). No significant effects of the soffritto intake were observed on vascular endothelial function, anthropometric measures, serum lipid profile, or blood parameters (p > 0.05). In conclusion, as a basic culinary technique, soffritto may have a role in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease by reducing platelet activation, which could contribute to a reduction in thrombotic events.

Antioxidative Effects of Rosuvastatin in Low-to-Moderate Cardiovascular Risk Subjects.

Background: Although vast clinical evidence supports the oxidative CVD hypothesis, little is known on the effects of statins on LDL/HDL oxidative functionality. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidative effects of rosuvastatin by monitoring the susceptibility of LDL to oxidation and the antioxidative HDL potential in low-to-moderate CV risk subjects. Methods: 40 adult ambulatory patients (aged 53.8±10.9 years, 27 women and 13 men) were included in the study. Data was collected from patients' records, physical examination, and blood sampling. Subjects were prescribed rosuvastatin at 20mg/day. Traditional risk-factors/indicators, lipid parameters, inflammatory/immune markers, LDL susceptibility to oxidation and HDL antioxidative potential were monitored and statistically analyzed with t-test, Chi-square test, one-way ANOVA, Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were made. Results were considered significant when p≤0.05. Results: 67% of the patients showed lower susceptibility of LDL to oxidation after rosuvastatin treatment (p=0.03), with no significant effect on baseline LDL oxidation and lag time. All three LDL oxidative indices were seen to be dependent on the subjects' lipid profile, hemoglobin levels and the IL-1α and IL-8 pro-inflammatory marker levels. 53% of the patients showed higher HDL antioxidative capacity after treatment, but without statistical significance (p=0.07). Increased antioxidative potential of HDL with rosuvastatin treatment was more likely in males (OR=9.350; p=0.010), and subjects achieving lower post-treatment CV relative risk levels (higher CV risk reduction) (OR=0.338; p=0.027). Conclusions: This study suggests the need of a comprehensive approach when investigating oxidative stress and LDL/HDL functions, especially in low-to-moderate CVD risk subjects.