Olive oil polyphenols decrease blood pressure and improve endothelial function in young women with mild hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Olive oil polyphenols have been associated with several cardiovascular health benefits. This study aims to examine the influence of a polyphenol-rich olive oil on blood pressure (BP) and endothelial function in 24 young women with high-normal BP or stage 1 essential hypertension. METHODS: We conducted a double-blind, randomized, crossover dietary-intervention study. After a run-in period of 4 months (baseline values), two diets were used, one with polyphenol-rich olive oil (∼30 mg/day), the other with polyphenol-free olive oil. Each dietary period lasted 2 months with a 4-week washout between diets. Systolic and diastolic BP, serum or plasma biomarkers of endothelial function, oxidative stress, and inflammation, and ischemia-induced hyperemia in the forearm were measured. RESULTS: When compared to baseline values, only the polyphenol-rich olive oil diet led to a significant (P < 0.01) decrease of 7.91 mm Hg in systolic and 6.65 mm Hg of diastolic BP. A similar finding was found for serum asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) (-0.09 ± 0.01 µmol/l, P < 0.01), oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) (-28.2 ± 28.5 µg/l, P < 0.01), and plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) (-1.9 ± 1.3 mg/l, P < 0.001). The polyphenol-rich olive oil diet also elicited an increase in plasma nitrites/nitrates (+4.7 ± 6.6 µmol/l, P < 0.001) and hyperemic area after ischemia (+345 ± 386 perfusion units (PU)/sec, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that the consumption of a diet containing polyphenol-rich olive oil can decrease BP and improve endothelial function in young women with high-normal BP or stage 1 essential hypertension.

Study of cerebral cavernous malformation in Spain and Portugal: high prevalence of a 14 bp deletion in exon 5 of MGC4607 (CCM2 gene).

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to study clinical, radiological and molecular genetic features of patients with cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) from the Iberian Peninsula. METHODS: We screened Krit1(CCM1), MGC4607(CCM2), and PDCD10(CCM3) by systematic SSCP and direct sequencing of coding exons in 48 nuclear families and 30 sporadic cases of CCM from Spain and Portugal. RESULTS: Screening of CCM patients detected nine different mutations in 19 families. We found four new mutations in Krit1. Three of them were caused by either a small insertion or deletion, which lead to frameshift and premature termination codons. We also found a missense L308H mutation located in a highly conserved sequence within the ankyrin domain of Krit1. In CCM2, we found a redundant 14 bp deletion in exon 5 of MGC4607 which predicts a truncated protein at residue 230. We did not find mutations in CCM3. CONCLUSIONS: Finding that the 14 bp deletion was present in eleven families from the Iberian Peninsula indicates a high prevalence of this mutation. This redundant CCM2 mutation is worth considering in molecular diagnosis and genetic counselling of cerebral cavernous malformations.

A study of promoter and intronic markers of ApoI/Fas gene and the interaction with Fas ligand in relapsing multiple sclerosis.

We studied the association between multiple sclerosis (MS) and a novel single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), A/T(735)G/C, localized in intron IV of the ApoI/Fas gene, which is recognized by the restrictase MaeI. Fas-MaeI genotypes were screened in chromosomes of 215 healthy individuals and 312 relapsing MS patients of Spanish extraction. We also analyzed the interaction of this new intragenic marker with others previously associated with MS: class II HLA-DRB1*1501, Fas-MvaI and Fas ligand. The distribution of Fas-MaeI genotypes was in equilibrium in the control cohort, while a significant disequilibrium was observed in the patient group (chi(2) = 16; p = 0.0003). Fas-MaeI genotypes were statistically different in the MS and control groups, but the allele frequencies were not. Sharing of MvaI/MaeI genotypes of the promoter/intron IV region did not differ between patients and controls. We failed to find different frequencies of ApoI/Fas genotypes in the population of MS carriers of the class II HLA-DRB1*1501 allele. The case/control comparative study showed a relative risk (OR close to 1.6) of MS in individuals harboring the T and A alleles of Fas- MaeI and Fas ligand, respectively. In conclusion, our findings suggest a weak association between the intronic marker Fas-MaeI and MS and a relative interaction with Fas ligand in an MS cohort of South Spanish extraction.