Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of a high-fat meal on pulmonary function in healthy subjects

  • Original Article
  • Published:
European Journal of Applied Physiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Obesity has important health consequences, including elevating risk for heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. A high-fat diet is known to contribute to obesity. Little is known regarding the effect of a high-fat diet on pulmonary function, despite the dramatic increase in the prevalence of respiratory ailments (e.g., asthma). The purpose of our study was to determine whether a high-fat meal (HFM) would increase airway inflammation and decrease pulmonary function in healthy subjects. Pulmonary function tests (PFT) (forced expiratory volume in 1-s, forced vital capacity, forced expiratory flow at 25–75% of vital capacity) and exhaled nitric oxide (eNO; airway inflammation) were performed in 20 healthy (10 men, 10 women), inactive subjects (age 21.9 ± 0.4 years) pre and 2 h post HFM (1 g fat/1 kg body weight; 74.2 ± 4.1 g fat). Total cholesterol, triglycerides, and C-reactive protein (CRP; systemic inflammation) were determined via a venous blood sample pre and post HFM. Body composition was measured via dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. The HFM significantly increased total cholesterol by 4 ± 1%, and triglycerides by 93 ± 3%. ENO also increased (p < 0.05) due to the HFM by 19 ± 1% (pre 17.2 ± 1.6; post 20.6 ± 1.7 ppb). ENO and triglycerides were significantly related at baseline and post-HFM (r = 0.82, 0.72 respectively). Despite the increased eNO, PFT or CRP did not change (p > 0.05) with the HFM. These results demonstrate that a HFM, which leads to significant increases in total cholesterol, and especially triglycerides, increases exhaled NO. This suggests that a high-fat diet may contribute to chronic inflammatory diseases of the airway and lung.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbasi F, McLaughlin T, Lamendola C, Kim HS, Tanaka A, Wang T, Nakajima K, Reaven GM (2000) High carbohydrate diets, triglyceride rich lipoproteins, and coronary heart disease risk. Am J Cardiol 85:45–48

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • American College of Sports Medicine (2010) ACSM’s guidelines for exercise testing and prescription, 8th edn. Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia

  • Ansell BJ (2007) The two faces of the ‘good’ cholesterol. Cleve Clin J Med 74(10):697–700, 703–705

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashutosh K (2000) Nitric oxide and asthma: a review. Curr Opin Pulm Med 6:21–25

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Austin MA (1997) Triaglycerol and coronary heart disease. Proc Nutr Soc 56:667–670

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Becklake MR, Kauffmann F (1999) Gender differences in airway behaviour over the human life span. Thorax 54:1119–1138

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blackburn P, Despres JP, Lamarche B, Tremblay A, Bergeron J, Lemieux I, Couillard C (2006) Postprandial variations of plasma inflammatory markers in abdominally obese men. Obesity 14:1747–1754

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Borst SE, Conover CF (2005) High-fat diet induces tissue expression of TNF-α. Life Sci 77:2156–2165

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Broide D (2008) New perspectives on mechanisms underlying chronic allergic inflammation and asthma in 2007. J Allergy Clin Immunol 122:475–480

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll MF, Schade DS (2003) Timing of antioxidant vitamin ingestion alters postprandial proatherogenic serum markers. Circulation 108:24–31

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Z, Yuhanna IS, Galcheva-Gargova Z, Karas RH, Mendelsohn ME, Shaul PW (1999) Estrogen receptor alpha mediates the nongenomic activation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase by estrogen. J Clin Invest 103:401–406

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Crapo RO, Morris AH, Gardner RM (1982) Reference values for pulmonary tissue volume, membrane diffusing capacity, and pulmonary capillary blood volume. Bull Europ Physiopath Resp 18:893–899

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Darblade B, Pendaries C, Krust A et al (2002) Estradiol alters nitric oxide production in the mouse aorta through the alpha-, but not beta-, estrogen receptor. Circ Res 90:413–419

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fan AZ (2006) Metabolic syndrome and progression of atherosclerosis among middle-aged US adults. J Atheroscler Thromb 13(1):46–54

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gabbay E, Fisher AJ, Small T, Leonard AJ, Corris PA (1998) Exhaled single-breath nitric oxide measurements are reproducible, repeatable and reflect levels of nitric oxide found in the lower airways. Eur Respir J 11:467–472

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Haarbo J, Gotfredsen A, Hassager C, and Christiansen C (1991) Validation of body composition by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Clin Physiol 11:331–341

    Google Scholar 

  • Habib SS (2009) Elevated exhaled nitric oxide (NO) in asymptomatic asthmatics taking bronchodilators on demand with controlled body composition. J Pakistan Med Assoc (JPMA) [serial online] 59:147

    Google Scholar 

  • Hancox RJ, Poulton R, Greene JM, Filsell S, McLachlan CR, Rasmussen F, Taylor DR, Williams MJ, Williamson A, Sears MR (2007) Systemic inflammation and lung function in young adults. Thorax 62(12):1064–1068

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jones RL, Nzekwu MM (2006) The effects of body mass index on lung volumes. Chest 130:827–833

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kasim-Karakas SE, Almario RU, Mueller WM, Peerson J (2000) Changes in plasma lipoproteins during low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets: effects of energy intake. Am J Clin Nutr 71:1439–1447

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kharitonov SA, Logan-Sinclair RB, Busset CM, Shinebourne EA (1994) Peak expiratory nitric oxide differences in men and women: relation to the menstrual cycle. Br Heart J 72:243–245

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Knuth ND, Remias DB, Horowitz JF (2008) Adding carbohydrate to a high-fat meal blunts postprandial lipemia in women and reduces meal-derived fatty acids in systemic circulation. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 33(2):315–325

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Li AM, Chan D, Wong E, Yin J, Nelson EA, Fok TF (2003) The effects of obesity on pulmonary function. Arch Dis Child 88:361–363

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maddox L, Schwartz DA (2002) The pathophysiology of asthma. Annu Rev Med 53:477–480

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maffeis C, Schutz Y, Grezzani A, Provera S, Piacentini G, Tatò L (2001) Meal-induced thermogenesis and obesity: is a fat meal a risk factor for fat gain in children? J Clin Endocrinol Metab 86(1):214–219

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mattes RD (2009) Brief oral stimulation, but especially oral fat exposure, elevates serum triglycerides in humans. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 296(2):G365–G371

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McAuley KA, Smith KJ, Taylor RW, McLay RT, Williams SM, Mann JI (2006) Long-term effects of popular dietary approaches on weight loss and features of insulin resistance. Int J Obes (Lond) 30(2):342–349

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mehta S, Farmer JA (2007) Obesity and inflammation: a new look at an old problem. Curr Atheroscler Rep [serial online] 9:134

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Miller M, Zhan M, Havas S (2005) High attributable risk of elevated C-reactive protein level to conventional coronary heart disease risk factors: the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Arch Intern Med 165(18):2063–2068

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Naura AS, Hans CP, Zerfaoui M, Errami Y, Ju J, Kim H, Matrougui K, Kim JG, Boulares AH (2009) High-fat diet induces lung remodeling in ApoE-deficient mice: an association with an increase in circulatory and lung inflammatory factors. Lab Invest 89:1243–1251

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Patel C, Ghanim H, Ravishankar S et al (2007) Prolonged reactive oxygen species generation and nuclear factor-kappaB activation after a high-fat, high-carbohydrate meal in the obese. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 92:4476–4479

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Peairs AT, Rankin JW (2008) Inflammatory response to a high-fat, low-carbohydrate weight loss diet: effect of antioxidants. Obesity (Silver Spring) 16:1573–1578

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Porsbjerg C, Lund TK, Pedersen L, Backer V (2009) Inflammatory subtypes in asthma are related to airway hyperresponsiveness to mannitol and exhaled NO. J Asthma 46(6):606–612

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rankin JW, Turpyn AD (2007) Low carbohydrate, high fat diet increases C-reactive protein during weight loss. J Am Coll Nutr 26:163–169

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen F, Mikkelsen D, Hancox RJ et al (2009) High-sensitive C-reactive protein is associated with reduced lung function in young adults. Eur Respir J 33:382–388

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rodway G, Choi J, Hoffman L, Sethi J (2009) Exhaled nitric oxide in the diagnosis and management of asthma: clinical implications. Chron Respir Dis [serial online] 6:19

    Google Scholar 

  • Shome GP, Starnes JD, Shearer M, Kennedy R, Way A, Arif A, Prbhakar S (2006) Exhaled nitric oxide in asthma: variability, relation to asthma severity, and peripheral blood lymphocyte cytokine expression. J Asthma 43(2):95–99

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shore SA, Johnston RA (2006) Obesity and asthma. Pharmacol Ther 110(1):83–102

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stenius-Aarniala B, Poussa T, Kvarnstrom J, Gronlund EL, Ylikarhri M, Mustajoki P (2000) Immediate and long term effects of weight reduction in obese people with asthma: randomised controlled study. BMJ 320(7238):827–832

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tantisira KG, Weiss ST (2001) Complex interactions in complex traits: obesity and asthma. Thorax 56(Suppl II):64–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsang KW, Ip SK, Leung R et al (2001) Exhaled nitric oxide: the effects of age, gender and body size. Lung 179:83–91

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Turley ML, Skeaff CM, Mann JI, Cox B (1998) The effect of a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet on serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride. Eur J Clin Nutr 52:728–732

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zulet MA, Puchau B, Navarro C, Martí A, Martínez JA (2007) Inflammatory biomarkers: the link between obesity and associated pathologies. Nutr Hosp 22:511

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Kinesiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA

    Sara K. Rosenkranz, Dana K. Townsend, Suzanne E. Steffens & Craig A. Harms

Authors
  1. Sara K. Rosenkranz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dana K. Townsend
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Suzanne E. Steffens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Craig A. Harms
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Craig A. Harms.

Additional information

Communicated by Susan Ward.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rosenkranz, S.K., Townsend, D.K., Steffens, S.E. et al. Effects of a high-fat meal on pulmonary function in healthy subjects. Eur J Appl Physiol 109, 499–506 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1390-1

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1390-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation