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Effects of dietary fatty acids on the composition and oxidizability of low-density lipoprotein

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the effects of dietary monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on LDL composition and oxidizability.

Design, setting and subjects: Sixty-nine healthy young volunteers, students at a nearby college, were included. Six subjects withdrew because of intercurrent illness and five withdrew because they were unable to comply with the dietary regimen.

Interventions: The participants received a 2-week wash-in diet rich in saturated fatty acids (SFA) followed by diets rich in refined olive oil, rapeseed oil or sunflower oil for 4 weeks. Intakes of vitamin E and other antioxidants did not differ significantly between the diets.

Results: At the end of the study, LDL oxidizability was lowest in the olive oil group (lag time: 72.6 min), intermediate in the rapeseed oil group (68.2 min) and highest in the sunflower oil group (60.4 min, P<0.05 for comparison of all three groups). Despite wide variations in SFA intake, the SFA content of LDL was not statistically different between the four diets (25.8–28.5% of LDL fatty acids). By contrast, the PUFA (43.5%–60.5% of LDL fatty acids) and MUFA content of LDL (13.7–29.1% of LDL fatty acids) showed a wider variability dependent on diet.

Conclusions: Enrichment of LDL with MUFA reduces LDL susceptibility to oxidation. As seen on the rapeseed oil diet this effect is independent of a displacement of higher unsaturated fatty acids from LDL. Evidence from this diet also suggests that highly unsaturated n-3 fatty acids in moderate amounts do not increase LDL oxidizability when provided in the context of a diet rich in MUFA.

Sponsorship: This work was supported by the Central Marketing Agency of the German Agricultural Industry (CMA), the German Union for the Promotion of Oil- and Protein Plants (UFOP), the Austrian Science Foundation, project F00709 (to P.M.A.) and the Brökelmann Ölmühle Company, Hamm, Germany.

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Acknowledgements

We are indebted to B Pieke, B Berning, J Harmsen and particularly W Hanekamp and E Gramenz for excellent technical assistance; to R Schmidt, Dr R Junker and Dr G Bannenberg for performing the venipunctures; to Dr Arnold von Eckardstein for valuable discussion; to M Nestola and J Ackermann at the Bildungszentrum der Bundesfinanzverwaltung for their generous cooperation; to E Ostermann and the Camphill Werkstätten, Steinfurt, for supplying the oil-enriched bread and cake; to M Stennecken and Dr H Schulte for statistical analyses; to the Homann Company, Dissen, Germany, and particularly W Heimhalt for supplying the specially manufactured margarine; and last but not least to the study subjects for participation.

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Kratz, M., Cullen, P., Kannenberg, F. et al. Effects of dietary fatty acids on the composition and oxidizability of low-density lipoprotein. Eur J Clin Nutr 56, 72–81 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601288

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