domingo, 25 de abril de 2010

Genetic basis for health benefits of the 'Mediterranean diet'



Contact: Graeme Baldwin
graeme.baldwin@biomedcentral.com
44-203-192-2165
BioMed Central

Genetic basis for health benefits of the 'Mediterranean diet'

Eating a diet rich in the phenolic components of virgin olive oil represses several pro-inflammatory genes. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Genomics suggest that this partly explains the reduced risk of cardiovascular disease seen in people who eat a 'Mediterranean diet'.

Francisco Perez-Jimenez from the University of Cordoba, Spain, led a team of researchers who studied the effects of eating a breakfast rich in phenol compounds on gene expression in 20 patients with metabolic syndrome, a common condition associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. The study participants ate controlled breakfasts, and for six weeks before the study they had to avoid all drugs, vitamin tablets and other supplements. Perez-Jimenez said, "We identified 98 differentially expressed genes when comparing the intake of phenol-rich olive oil with low-phenol olive oil. Several of the repressed genes are known to be involved in pro-inflammatory processes, suggesting that the diet can switch the activity of immune system cells to a less deleterious inflammatory profile, as seen in metabolic syndrome."

Phenols are micronutrients of olive oil; the extra-virgin varieties have a particularly large phenol fraction. According to Perez-Jimenez, "These findings strengthen the relationship between inflammation, obesity and diet and provide evidence at the most basic level of healthy effects derived from virgin olive oil consumption in humans. It will be interesting to evaluate whether particular phenolic compounds carry these effects, or if they are the consequence of a synergic effect of the total phenolic fraction".


###

Notes to Editors

1. Gene expression changes in mononuclear cells from patients with metabolic syndrome after acute intake of phenol-rich virgin olive oil
Antonio Camargo, Juan Ruano, Juan M Fernandez, Laurence D Parnell, Anabel Jimenez, Monica Santos-Gonzalez, Carmen Marin, Pablo Perez-Martinez, Marino Uceda, Jose Lopez-Miranda and Francisco Perez-Jimenez
BMC Genomics (in press)

During embargo, article available here:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/imedia/1739267026322306_article.pdf?random=75409

After the embargo, article available at the journal website: http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcgenomics/

Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.

Article citation and URL available on request at press@biomedcentral.com on the day of publication.

2. BMC Genomics is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research articles in all aspects of genome-scale analysis, functional genomics, and proteomics. BMC Genomics (ISSN 1471-2164) is indexed/tracked/covered by PubMed, MEDLINE, BIOSIS, CAS, EMBASE, Scopus, Zoological Record, Thomson Reuters (ISI) and Google Scholar.

3. BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector.

open here please:
Genetic basis for health benefits of the 'Mediterranean diet'

No hay comentarios:

Publicar un comentario