[Mediterranean diet improves low density lipoprotein susceptibility to oxidative modifications].

UNLABELLED: Most experts, specially from Anglo-Saxon countries, recommend a low fat diet in order to prevent cardiovascular diseases. However, mortality rate by ischemic cardiopathy is low in Mediterranean countries, probably because of the consumption of a Mediterranean diet, with a high level of monounsaturated fats provided by the olive oil. We have conducted this study in order to investigate the possible influence of this kind of diet on the oxidation of LDL in vitro, the key element for the development of atherosclerosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 41 healthy male subjects were submitted to three consecutive 4-week diets. The first was a saturated fat-rich diet (SAT diet, 38% fat, 20% saturated). This was followed by a low fat diet (NCEP-I, 28% fat, 10% saturated) and after that a Mediterranean diet (38% fat, 22% monounsaturated fat). Plasma levels of total cholesterol, LDL-c, HDL-c, triglycerides, apolipoproteins A-I and B, -tocopherol, and the in vitro susceptibility to oxidation of LDL particles. Both hypolipidemic diets produced a significant decrease in total cholesterol, LDL-c, and apo-B plasma levels. However, it was only the NCEP-I diet that revealed a decrease in the HDL-c. The shift from a saturated fat-rich diet, or a diet rich in carbohydrates, to a Mediterranean diet increased the resistance of LDL particles to oxidation increasing the lag time period (p < 0.038), and decreasing (p < 0.001) the progression rate of the curve of oxidation of LDL. Our results point out two positive consequences of the consumption of a Mediterranean diet by healthy young males, compared with the low fat diet recommended by most Anglo-Saxon experts. On the one hand, the Mediterranean diet increases HDL-c plasma levels, and on the other hand, it decreases the susceptibility of LDL to oxidation. This is why the Mediterranean diet must be recommended in order to prevent cardiovascular diseases.