Effect of short-term lycopene supplementation and postprandial dyslipidemia on plasma antioxidants and biomarkers of endothelial health in young, healthy individuals

Original Research

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Authors: Steven G Denniss, Thomas D Haffner, Jeffrey T Kroetsch, Sara R Davidson, James WE Rush, Richard L Hughson

Published Date March 2008 Volume 2008:4(1) Pages 213 - 222

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/VHRM.S2347

Steven G Denniss, Thomas D Haffner, Jeffrey T Kroetsch, Sara R Davidson, James WE Rush, Richard L Hughson

Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 3G1

Abstract: The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that the effect of a high-fat meal (HFm) on plasma lipid-soluble antioxidants and biomarkers of vascular oxidative stress and inflammation would be attenuated by short-term lycopene supplementation in young healthy subjects. Following restriction of lycopene-containing foods for 1-wk (LYr), blood was collected in a fasting state and 3 h after a HFm and a low-fat meal (LFm) in N = 18 men aged 23 ± 2 years, and after a HFm only in N = 9 women aged 23 ± 1 years. Blood was also sampled pre- and post-meals following 1-wk of 80 mg/day lycopene supplementation (LYs) under continued dietary LYr. In the fasting state, LYs compared with LYr not only evoked a >2-fold increase in plasma lycopene but also increased plasma β-carotene and α-tocopherol (p<0.01), though LYs did not affect plasma nitrate/nitrite (biomarker of nitric oxide), malondialdehyde (biomarker of lipid oxidative stress), vascular- and intercellular-adhesion molecules or C-reactive protein (biomarkers of inflammation). Contrary to the hypothesis, the HFm-induced dyslipidemic state did not affect plasma malondialdehyde, C-reactive protein, or adhesion molecules in either LYr or LYs. Both the HFm and LFm were associated with decreases in the nitric oxide metabolites nitrate/nitrite and lipid-soluble antioxidants (p<0.05). The data revealed that 1-wk of LYs increased plasma lycopene, β-carotene, and α-tocopherol yet despite these marked changes to the plasma lipid-soluble antioxidant pool, biomarkers of vascular oxidative stress and inflammation were unaffected in the fasted state as well as during dyslipidemia induced by a HFm in young healthy subjects.

Keywords: carotenoids, dietary antioxidants, high-fat meal, low-fat meal