TUESDAY, July 21 (HealthDay News) -- Dietary components, including a component of an Indian spice and of orange juice, are cardioprotective, according to two studies presented at the American Heart Association's Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Annual Conference 2009 - Molecular Mechanisms of Cardiovascular Disease, held from July 20 to 23 in Lake Las Vegas, Nev.
In the first study, Dragan Milenkovic, Ph.D., and colleagues from the Centre de Clermont-Ferrand/Theix in Saint-Genes-Champanelle, France fed apoE−⁄− mice (a model of atherosclerosis) either a control diet or a diet supplemented with 0.2 percent curcumin, a component of the Indian spice turmeric. After 16 weeks, they found that mice fed curcumin had a 26 percent reduction in lipid deposits, and an examination of gene expression showed that the expression of 2,252 genes affecting several cellular processes was altered.
In the second study, Milenkovic and colleagues fed 24 healthy men with cardiovascular risk factors either 500 ml orange juice (which naturally contains 292 mg hesperidin, the major flavonoid of orange juice), 500 ml of an isoenergetic control drink, or the same control drink supplemented with 292 mg hesperidin. They found that orange juice and hesperidin consumption was associated with a trend towards improved endothelial function, and an examination of gene expression showed that the expression of 1,508 genes was altered in both groups.
"Our study revealed that polyphenol and orange juice could act on endothelial function and induce modification of the expression of genes related to cardiovascular health," the authors conclude.
Abstract - Curcumin
Poster - Curcumin
Abstract - Hesperidin
Poster - Hesperidin
Conference Information
