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Dietary Cocoa Butter or Refined Olive Oil Does Not Alter Postprandial hsCRP and IL-6 Concentrations in Healthy Women

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Lipids

Abstract

Contrary to other long chain saturated fatty acids (SFA), fats high in stearic acid do not raise plasma cholesterol concentrations, however, a slight elevation in inflammatory markers, plasma fibrinogen and interleukin-6 (IL-6), has been observed in the fasting state. The effect of stearic acid on inflammation in the postprandial state has not yet been reported. We conducted a single blind crossover, randomized, postprandial study to compare the effects of a fat load of cocoa butter high in stearic acid and olive oil in ten healthy women. The test meals contained 1 g of fat per kg body weight (mean 62 g). Blood samples were collected at 0 (fasting), 4 and 6 h. Both diets resulted in a significant increase in serum triacylglycerol (TAG) concentration over time (P = 0.003) and a decrease in serum IL-6 concentration after 4 h followed by an increase to post absorptive values after 6 h (P < 0.001); whereas serum high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) concentration was not affected. There was no difference between diets in effects on serum TAG, hsCRP and IL-6 concentrations and no association between postprandial lipemia and inflammatory markers. High intake of dietary fats increase postprandial serum TAG, however, may not affect inflammatory markers postprandially. Thus, fat rich in stearic acid does not seem to increase postprandial inflammation.

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Abbreviations

hsCRP:

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein

IL-6:

Interleukin-6

OL:

Olive oil

CB:

Cocoa butter

%E:

Percentage of energy

TAG:

Triacylglycerol

TNF-α:

Tumor necrosis factor-α

SFA:

Saturated fatty acids

MUFA:

Monounsaturated fatty acids

PUFA:

Polyunsaturated fatty acids

BMI:

Body mass index

CAM:

Cellular adhesion molecules

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Acknowledgments

We thank our technician, Hanne Lysdal Petersen, from the Department of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen for technical assistance. The study was supported by Moth-Lunds Foundation, Denmark.

Conflict of interest

The authors have declared no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Life Sciences, Copenhagen University, 1958, Frederiksberg, Denmark

    Tine Tholstrup & Marianne Raff

  2. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Kim-Tiu Teng

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  1. Tine Tholstrup
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  2. Kim-Tiu Teng
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  3. Marianne Raff
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Correspondence to Tine Tholstrup.

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Tholstrup, T., Teng, KT. & Raff, M. Dietary Cocoa Butter or Refined Olive Oil Does Not Alter Postprandial hsCRP and IL-6 Concentrations in Healthy Women. Lipids 46, 365–370 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-011-3526-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-011-3526-4

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