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

Authors Denniss SG, Haffner TD, Kroetsch JT, Davidson SR, Rush J, Hughson RL

Published 8 February 2008 Volume 2008:4(1) Pages 213—222

DOI https://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

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