Tropical Oil Consumption and Cardiovascular Disease: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses.

The health effects of saturated fat, particularly tropical oil, on cardiovascular disease are unclear. We investigated the effect of tropical oil (palm and coconut oils), lard, and other common vegetable oils (soybean and rice bran oils) that are widely used in tropical and Asian countries on lipid profiles. We performed an umbrella review of meta-analyses and systematic reviews. Electronic databases (Medline, Scopus, Embase, and Cochrane) were searched up to December 2018 without language restriction. We identified nine meta-analyses that investigated the effect of dietary oils on lipid levels. Replacement of polyunsaturated fatty-acid-rich oils (PUFAs) and monounsaturated FA-rich oils (MUFAs) with palm oil significantly increased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), by 3.43 (0.44-6.41) mg/dL and 9.18 (6.90-11.45) mg/dL, respectively, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), by 1.89 (1.23-2.55) mg/dL and 0.94 (-0.07-1.97) mg/dL, respectively. Replacement of PUFAs with coconut oil significantly increased HDL-c and total cholesterol -by 2.27 (0.93-3.6) mg/dL and 5.88 (0.21-11.55) mg/dL, respectively-but not LDL-c. Substituting lard for MUFAs and PUFAs increased LDL-c-by 8.39 (2.83-13.95) mg/dL and 9.85 (6.06-13.65) mg/dL, respectively-but not HDL-c. Soybean oil substituted for other PUFAs had no effect on lipid levels, while rice bran oil substitution decreased LDL-c. Our findings show the deleterious effect of saturated fats from animal sources on lipid profiles. Replacement of unsaturated plant-derived fats with plant-derived saturated fats slightly increases LDL-c but also increases HDL-c, which in turn may exert a neutral effect on cardiovascular health.

Effect of silicon on calcium, proline, growth rate and salt stress of narrow-leaved cattails in synthetic reactive dye wastewater.

Narrow-leaved cattails (Typha angustifolia L.) show higher efficiency in the removal of colour and reduction of pH, TDS, and conductivity from synthetic reactive red dye wastewater (Rw) when silicon is added to the wastewater. The efficiency of the colour removal was increased from 86% within 12 days to 93% within 9 days with the addition of silicon. Furthermore, the TDS was also decreased when adding silicon in the wastewater. In addition, calcium and proline accumulation in the plant leaf increased in response to increasing Rw concentrations in the absence of added silicon. Higher salinity was also observed with increasing Rw concentrations. Plants attempt to balance their water potential by secreting proline as an osmotic adjustment. But both calcium and proline levels decreased when silicon was added to the wastewater. This result implies that the plant uses silicon as primary element for responsibility under salt stress condition by increasing growth of plant. In addition, silicon can be used instead of calcium, resulting in decreased proline and calcium production in the plant.