Effects on markers of inflammation and endothelial cell function of three ad libitum diets differing in type and amount of fat and carbohydrate: a 6-month randomised study in obese individuals

Diet is important for the prevention of CVD, and diets high in MUFA might be more cardioprotective than low-fat diets. We hypothesise that inflammation and endothelial cell function will be improved most favourably by a high-MUFA diet compared with a low-fat diet. This was tested in a parallel randomised intervention trial on overweight individuals (aged 28·2 (sd 4·6) years) assigned to a diet moderate in the amount of fat (35-45% of energy; >20% of fat as MUFA; MUFA diet, n 39), a low-fat (20-30% of energy) diet (LF diet, n 43) or a control diet (35 % of energy as fat, n 24) for 6 months after weight loss. Protein constituted 10-20 % of energy in all diets. Food was provided free of charge. Fasting blood samples were collected before and after the intervention and analysed for C-reactive protein (CRP), IL-6, intercellular adhesion molecule, von Willebrand factor (vWF) and tissue factor pathway inhibitor. vWF concentrations tended to fall on the LF diet (4·78 (sd 16·44) %; P = 0·07). Concentrations of IL-6 were reduced by the MUFA (0·37 (sd 0·74) pg/ml; P