BACKGROUND: Elevated serum total sialic acid (TSA) has been shown to be associated with increased cardiovascular mortality. It has been postulated that atherogenesis is a postprandial phenomenon. We tested the hypothesis that serum TSA and other acute phase proteins, namely C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen, may be related to the postprandial state. METHODS: Ten healthy male subjects, aged 24-48 years, were fed 62.5 g of total fat (saturates 12 g, monounsaturates 35.3 g and polyunsaturates 12.5 g) in the form of strawberry flavoured Calogen. Venous blood was sampled hourly for 5 h. Concentrations of serum triglyceride, TSA and acute phase proteins were measured. RESULTS: Serum triglyceride concentration increased postprandially, peaking at 240 min. Serum CRP and plasma fibrinogen did not significantly increase after the oral fat load. However, serum TSA did increase from baseline (0.599+/-0.051 g/l) in response to the oral fat load, peaking at 120 min post-oral fat load (0.633+/-0.066 g/l, P<0.02). There was a significant correlation between serum TSA and plasma fibrinogen at baseline (rho=0.62, P=0.05) but not for serum CRP (rho=-0.22) or triglyceride (rho=0.21). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that serum TSA increases postprandially and this finding gives further insight as to why the former is considered to be a cardiovascular risk factor.
BACKGROUND: Elevated serum total sialic acid (TSA) has been shown to be associated with increased cardiovascular mortality. It has been postulated that atherogenesis is a postprandial phenomenon. We tested the hypothesis that serum TSA and other acute phase proteins, namely C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen, may be related to the postprandial state. METHODS: Ten healthy male subjects, aged 24-48 years, were fed 62.5 g of total fat (saturates 12 g, monounsaturates 35.3 g and polyunsaturates 12.5 g) in the form of strawberry flavoured Calogen. Venous blood was sampled hourly for 5 h. Concentrations of serum triglyceride, TSA and acute phase proteins were measured. RESULTS: Serum triglyceride concentration increased postprandially, peaking at 240 min. Serum CRP and plasma fibrinogen did not significantly increase after the oral fat load. However, serum TSA did increase from baseline (0.599+/-0.051 g/l) in response to the oral fat load, peaking at 120 min post-oral fat load (0.633+/-0.066 g/l, P<0.02). There was a significant correlation between serum TSA and plasma fibrinogen at baseline (rho=0.62, P=0.05) but not for serum CRP (rho=-0.22) or triglyceride (rho=0.21). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that serum TSA increases postprandially and this finding gives further insight as to why the former is considered to be a cardiovascular risk factor.