Feasibility of using an oleate-rich diet to reduce the susceptibility of low-density lipoprotein to oxidative modification in humans.

Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is more atherogenic than native LDL. The initial step in the oxidation is the peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Thus, decreasing the concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids should reduce the susceptibility of LDL to oxidation. Therefore, we tested the possibility that diets enriched in oleate might result in LDL that is less susceptible to oxidative modification. LDL isolated from subjects consuming an oleate-enriched diet, compared with LDL from subjects on a linoleate-enriched diet, contained significantly more oleate (28.7% vs 11.5%) and less linoleate (31.9% vs 50.9%). Generation of conjugated dienes was significantly lower in the LDL from the oleate group. Most important, after incubation with endothelial cells, LDL from the oleate group underwent less degradation by macrophages. These studies demonstrate the feasibility of altering the diet in a way that will not raise LDL cholesterol concentrations and yet will decrease the susceptibility of LDL to oxidative modification.

Comparison of effects of dietary saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids on plasma lipids and lipoproteins in man.

Twenty patients consumed a liquid diet in which the predominant fatty acids were either saturated (Sat), monounsaturated (Mono), or polyunsaturated (Poly). The fats in these three diets comprised 40% of total calories and consisted of palm oil, high-oleic safflower oil, and high-linoleic safflower oil, respectively. During the third and fourth week of each dietary period, multiple samples of blood were taken and were analyzed for plasma total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), and cholesterol in lipoprotein fractions (VLDL-C, LDL-C, and HDL-C). Twelve of the patients had normal TG levels; in these patients, both Mono and Poly diets caused statistically significant and equal lowerings of plasma LDL-C, but the Poly diet lowered HDL-C levels more frequently than did the Mono diet. Neither diet changed the level of plasma TG. The proportions of total protein and the various lipid components in isolated fractions (VLDL, IDL, LDL, HDL) were not altered by the two diets. Eight patients had hypertriglyceridemia; these individuals showed considerable variability in response to Mono and Poly diets. Although there was a trend towards reductions in TC and LDL-C levels by both types of unsaturated fats, the changes were inconsistent; furthermore, HDL-C concentrations were low on the Sat diet and were unaffected by either the Mono or the Poly diet. The results of this study show that oleic acid is as effective as linoleic acid in lowering LDL-C levels in normo-triglyceridemic patients, and oleic acid seemingly reduces HDL-C levels less frequently than does linoleic acid. Neither type of unsaturated fat had striking effects on lipoprotein levels of hypertriglyceridemic patients.

The effect of a non-absorbable fat, sucrose polyester, on the metabolism of vitamin A by the rat.

Sucrose polyester (SPE) is a fat-like material that is not absorbed. The effect of this material on vitamin A metabolism was determined by measuring the amount of the vitamin that was stored in the liver of rats following the ingestion of a known amount of vitamin A. In one study, the vitamin A was administered as an oral dose in a vehicle consisting of various proportions of cottonseed oil and SPE. Each 1% replacement of cottonseed oil by SPE resulted in a 0.26% decrease in the amount of vitamin A found in the liver. In the second study, the vitamin A was incorporated into diets in which the fat component consisted of various proportions of cottonseed oil and SPE. When these diets were consumed for 1 week, each 1% replacement of cottonseed oil by SPE resulted in a 0.84% decrease in the storage of vitamin A by the liver. It is proposed that in the lumen of the intestine vitamin A distributes between the customary micellar phase and the unhydrolyzed oil phase of SPE. The vitamin A in this latter phase is eliminated in the feces.

Effect of hydrogenated fat on the plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels of man.

A group of 33 adult males was fed for 21 days a formula diet that supplied 38 per cent of their calories as fat. The fatty acid composition of the diet was 25 per cent saturates, 16 per cent polyunsaturates and 58 per cent monounsaturates. All of the unsaturated acids were in the cis configuration. The subjects were then divided into two groups. One group of 17 men continued on the same diet. In the diet of the remaining subjects, 80 per cent of the dietary fat was replaced with a hydrogenated fat. Over 60 per cent of the monounstaurated acids and approximately one-half of the polyunsaturated acids of the diet of this latter group were in the trans configuration. Except for the presence or absence of trans acids, the fatty acid intakes of the two groups were the same. Over the 4-week period that the two diets were consumed, the group receiving the hydrogenated fat showed no change in plasma cholesterol or triglyceride levels relative to the subjects consuming the unhydrogenated fat. It is concluded that the effect of a hydrogenated fat on blood lipid level is determined by its fatty acid composition and this effect is not altered by the isomeric form of the unsaturated acids.