Effect of dietary lycopene on inflammatory marker in patients of heart failure.

ABSTRACT

Background: Heart failure (HF), often referred to as chronic heart failure (CHF), occurs when the heart is unable to pump sufficiently to maintain blood flow to meet the body's needs. Patients with HF are characterized by systemic inflammation, as evident by raised circulating levels of several inflammatory cytokines with increasing levels according to the degree of disease severity. Inflammation occurs in the vasculature as a response to injury, lipid peroxidation, and perhaps infection. Inflammation can be a significant contributor in the pathophysiology of HF. Antioxidants may slow the progression of HF because of their ability to inhibit damaging inflammatory processes. The purpose of this study was to test a dietary intervention in patients with HF to assess the effect of dietary lycopene on biomarkers of inflammation. Methods: Sixty participants with HF were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups lycopene intervention and non-intervention. The lycopene intervention group received 27.212 mg of lycopene intake per day by drinking 1 serving (243 gm) of tomato soup for 30 days. We obtained serum lycopene, and C-reactive protein (CRP), to determine the impact of the intervention. Results: Plasma lycopene levels increased in the intervention group compared with the usual group (0.50 μmol/L to 0.75 μmol/L, P = 0.002; 0.55 μmol/L to 0.57 μmol/L). C-reactive protein levels decreased significantly in the intervention group in both women and men. The pre-intervention and post-intervention CRP level for women was 15.37 ± 1.46 mg/dL and 8.32 ± 1.11 mg/dl respectively and for men was 15.05 ± 2.58 mg/dL and 8.14 ± 1.49 mg/dL respectively. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the antioxidants in a 30-day intervention of tomato soup significantly decreases CRP levels in a sample of female and male patients with HF.