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Effects of Mediterranean diets on plasma biomarkers of inflammation

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 61, pages 1035–1036 (2007)Cite this article

We have read the article by Michalsen et al. (2006). published in European Journal of Clinical Nutrition on the effects of Mediterranean Diet on plasma biomarkers of inflammation in coronary patients. They reported an apparent lack of effect of a Mediterranean diet on inflammatory biomarkers related to vascular injury and also on metabolic plasma molecules. This paper has suggested us several comments.

First, as it has been highlighted recently in several reports, olive oil is the main common dietary component in the so-called Mediterranean diets, which have many variants in both sides of the Mediterranean Sea (Nestle, 1995; Trichopoulou and Lagiou, 1997). However, a decrease in oleic acid (18:1, n-9) was observed in the mentioned study, not only in the quantification of nutrients after 1 year, but also in its plasma levels in the intervention group as compared with the control group. Virgin olive oil in the diet can be directly associated with a lower risk of a first myocardial infarction (Fernández-Jarne et al., 2002). This might be not only due to its content in oleic acid, but also to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of its polyphenolic components (Marrugat et al., 2004). Oleic acid by itself diminishes vascular cellular adhesion molecule-1 membrane expression and nuclear factor-κB activation in endothelial cells (Carluccio et al., 1999). As the authors state in the paper, without providing free specific supplements, it could be difficult to reach an increase in dietary Alpha Linolenic Acid in Germany, and we suspect that this could also be true for virgin olive oil.

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  1. Departamento de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Universidad de Navarra, Navarra, Spain

    M Serrano-Martínez & M A Martínez-González

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  1. M Serrano-Martínez
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  2. M A Martínez-González
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Correspondence to M A Martínez-González.

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Serrano-Martínez, M., Martínez-González, M. Effects of Mediterranean diets on plasma biomarkers of inflammation. Eur J Clin Nutr 61, 1035–1036 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602599

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