Prevention of atherosclerosis: the role of special diets and functional foods.

The importance of diet for prevention of atherosclerosis is supported by numerous studies. However, to date, no rigorous method exists to assess its impact. Dietary ingredients and supplements and functional foods receive special attention as promising components in prevention of atherosclerosis. In this review, we summarize the results of recent studies that demonstrate the direct and indirect effects of functional foods and dietary components on the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. We discuss the possible effects of different diets on the pathological mechanisms at cellular and molecular level, as well as epidemiological and clinical observations.

Atherosclerosis prevention: the role of special diets and functional food.

Accumulating evidence highlight the importance of diet in the pathogenesis as well as prevention of atherosclerosis. In this review, we summarize the results of recent studies that demonstrate direct and indirect effects if functional foods and their analogues in prevention of initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. We discuss the epidemiological and clinical observations of such diets and dicuss their effects on the pathological mechanisms that drive atherosclerosis at cellular and molecular level.

Sialidases: Therapeutic and Antiatherogenic Potential.

This review focuses on the biological role and clinical relevance of relatively poor studied enzymes known as sialidases. We describe structure and function of sialic acid, in particular as a component of gangliosides and plasma lipoproteins. Several types of sialidases are known in mammals, of which trans-sialidase is of special interest, since it is capable of removing sialic acid from low density lipoprotein (LDL) particles and transferring it to different acceptors in blood plasma. Desialylation of LDL, in turn, endows it a capacity to accumulate in the smooth muscle cells of human aortic intima, and therefore is important for atherogenesis. Moreover, sialidases appear to be involved in a variety of pathological processes, including viral infections and cancer, which makes these enzymes an attractive therapeutic target.