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Acute intake of quercetin from onion skin extract does not influence postprandial blood pressure and endothelial function in overweight-to-obese adults with hypertension: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial

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Abstract

Purpose

To determine whether postprandial metabolic and vascular responses induced by a high-fat and high-carbohydrate meal are attenuated by ingestion of the flavonol quercetin.

Methods

Twenty-two overweight-to-obese hypertensive patients participated in a randomized, double-blind, controlled, crossover meal study. They consumed a test meal (challenge) rich in energy (4754 kJ), fat (61.6 g), saturated fatty acids (53 % of total fatty acids), and carbohydrates (113.3 g) with either placebo or 54 mg quercetin. Blood pressure, reactive hyperemia index (RHI), high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), soluble endothelial-derived adhesion molecules, parameters of lipid and glucose metabolism, and markers of antioxidant status were measured before the meal and at 2 and 4 h postprandially.

Results

Systolic and diastolic blood pressure increased significantly over time, but were not affected by treatment (placebo or quercetin). During both treatments, serum endothelin-1, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, and plasma asymmetric dimethylarginine slightly decreased over time, whereas RHI increased. Serum triglycerides, total cholesterol, and insulin significantly increased, whereas HDL cholesterol and glucose significantly decreased over time, again with no effect of treatment. Plasma α-tocopherol significantly increased, and plasma Trolox equivalent antioxidative capacity decreased over time. Serum hs-CRP, plasma retinol, and β-carotene did not significantly change during the trial.

Conclusion

In hypertensive patients, a high-energy meal did not lead to postprandial impairment of vascular endothelial function. Postprandial metabolic responses induced by the challenge, such as lipemia and insulinemia, were not attenuated by the concomitant ingestion of quercetin.

Clinical trial

This trial was registered at www.germanctr.de/ and http://apps.who.int/trialsearch/ as DRKS00000555.

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Abbreviations

ADMA:

Asymmetric dimethylarginine

CVD:

Cardiovascular diseases

FMD:

Flow-mediated dilatation

hs-CRP:

High-sensitive C-reactive protein

NO:

Nitric oxide

PAT:

Peripheral arterial tonometry

RHI:

Reactive hyperemia index

RM-ANOVA:

Repeated-measures ANOVA

sE-Selectin:

Soluble endothelial selectin

sICAM-1:

Soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1

sVCAM-1:

Soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1

TEAC:

Trolox equivalent antioxidative capacity

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Acknowledgments

The authors are indebted to our volunteers for their interest and participation in our study; to Rudolf Wild GmbH & Company KG (Matthias Saß) for the supply of the onion skin extract; to Petra Pickert, Margret Schüller, Christel Bierschbach, Adelheid Schuch, Anke Ernst, Petra Schulz, Anke Carstensen, and Ute Hartung for excellent technical assistance; and to Sarah Krönung, Elvis Kolobara, Claudia Pagliarucci, Lisa Albrecht, Ramona Napp, and Michael Napp for performing the venipunctures. This study was supported by Grant No. EG292/3-1 of the German Research Foundation (to SE).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Nutritional Physiology, University of Bonn, Endenicher Allee 11-13, 53115, Bonn, Germany

    Verena Brüll, Constanze Burak, Birgit Alteheld, Peter Stehle & Sarah Egert

  2. Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Birgit Stoffel-Wagner

  3. Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    Siegfried Wolffram

  4. Department of Cardiology, Angiology and Pneumology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Georg Nickenig & Cornelius Müller

  5. Institute of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, Department of Biopharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany

    Peter Langguth

  6. Institute of Medical Biometry, Informatics and Epidemiology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Rolf Fimmers

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  1. Verena Brüll
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  11. Sarah Egert
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Correspondence to Sarah Egert.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standard

The study was conducted according to the guidelines laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki, and its later amendments and all procedures involving human participants were approved by the ethical committee of the Medical Faculty of the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Germany. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants.

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Brüll, V., Burak, C., Stoffel-Wagner, B. et al. Acute intake of quercetin from onion skin extract does not influence postprandial blood pressure and endothelial function in overweight-to-obese adults with hypertension: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial. Eur J Nutr 56, 1347–1357 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-016-1185-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-016-1185-1

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