Effects of dietary fat quantity and composition on fasting and postprandial levels of coagulation factor VII and serum choline-containing phospholipids.

Dietary fat influences plasma levels of coagulation factor VII (FVII) and serum phospholipids (PL). It is, however, unknown if the fat-mediated changes in FVII are linked to PL. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary fat on fasting and postprandial levels of activated FVII (FVIIa), FVII coagulant activity (FVIIc), FVII protein (FVIIag) and choline-containing PL (PC). In a randomized single-blinded crossover-designed study a high-fat diet (HSAFA), a low-fat diet (LSAFA), both rich in saturated fatty acids, and a high-fat diet rich in unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) were consumed for 3 weeks. Twenty-five healthy females, in which postprandial responses were studied in a subset of twelve, were included. The HSAFA diet resulted in higher levels of fasting FVIIa and PC compared with the LSAFA and the HUFA diets (all comparisons P< or =0.01). The fasting PC levels after the LSAFA diet were also higher than after the HUFA diet (P<0.001). Postprandial levels of FVIIa and PC were highest on the HSAFA diet and different from LSAFA and HUFA (all comparisons P< or =0.05). Postprandial FVIIa was higher on the HUFA compared with the LSAFA diet (P<0.03), whereas the HUFA diet resulted in lower postprandial levels of PC than the LSAFA diet (P<0.001). Significant correlations between fasting levels of PC and FVIIc were found on all diets, whereas FVIIag was correlated to PC on the HSAFA and HUFA diet. The present results indicate that dietary fat, both quality and quantity, influences fasting and postprandial levels of FVIIa and PC. Although significant associations between fasting FVII and PC levels were found, our results do not support the assumption that postprandial FVII activation is linked to serum PC.