Flavonoid-rich fruit and vegetables improve microvascular reactivity and inflammatory status in men at risk of cardiovascular disease--FLAVURS: a randomized controlled trial

MacReady, Anna, George, Trevor, Chong, Mary Foong-Fong, Alimbetov, Dauren, Jin, Yannan, Vidal, A., Spencer, Jeremy, Kennedy, Orla, Tuohy, Kieran, Minihane, Anne-Marie, Gordon, Michael and Lovegrove, Julie (2014) Flavonoid-rich fruit and vegetables improve microvascular reactivity and inflammatory status in men at risk of cardiovascular disease--FLAVURS: a randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 99 (3). pp. 479-489. ISSN 0002-9165

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Abstract

Background: Observed associations between increased fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption, particularly those F&Vs that are rich in flavonoids, and vascular health improvements require confirmation in adequately powered randomized controlled trials.

Objective: This study was designed to measure the dose-response relation between high-flavonoid (HF), low-flavonoid (LF), and habitual F&V intakes and vascular function and other cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk indicators.

Design: A single-blind, dose-dependent, parallel randomized controlled dietary intervention study was conducted. Male and female low-F&V consumers who had a ≥1.5-fold increased risk of CVD (n = 174) were randomly assigned to receive an HF F&V, an LF F&V, or a habitual diet, with HF and LF F&V amounts sequentially increasing by 2, 4, and 6 (+2, +4, and +6) portions/d every 6 wk over habitual intakes. Microvascular reactivity (laser Doppler imaging with iontophoresis), arterial stiffness [pulse wave velocity, pulse wave analysis (PWA)], 24-h ambulatory blood pressure, and biomarkers of nitric oxide (NO), vascular function, and inflammation were determined at baseline and at 6, 12, and 18 wk.

Results: In men, the HF F&V diet increased endothelium-dependent microvascular reactivity (P = 0.017) with +2 portions/d (at 6 wk) and reduced C-reactive protein (P = 0.001), E-selectin (P = 0.0005), and vascular cell adhesion molecule (P = 0.0468) with +4 portions/d (at 12 wk). HF F&Vs increased plasma NO (P = 0.0243) with +4 portions/d (at 12 wk) in the group as a whole. An increase in F&Vs, regardless of flavonoid content in the groups as a whole, mitigated increases in vascular stiffness measured by PWA (P = 0.0065) and reductions in NO (P = 0.0299) in the control group.

Conclusion: These data support recommendations to increase F&V intake to ≥6 portions daily, with additional benefit from F&Vs that are rich in flavonoids, particularly in men with an increased risk of CVD. This trial was registered at www.controlled-trials.com as ISRCTN47748735.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	B400 Nutrition D600 Food and Beverage studies
Department:	Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Applied Sciences
Depositing User:	Paul Burns
Date Deposited:	07 Nov 2014 13:47
Last Modified:	10 Oct 2019 21:46
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/17999

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