Università degli Studi di Milano, Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, Division of Human Nutrition, Milan, Italy.
Food Funct. 2017 Nov 15;8(11):4108-4117. doi: 10.1039/c7fo00861a.
Several studies have documented the important role of polyphenol-rich foods in the modulation of vascular remodelling and function. This study aimed to evaluate the capacity of a single portion of blueberry (V. corymbosum) to acutely improve peripheral arterial dysfunction in a group of young volunteers. Twenty-four healthy males (12 non-smokers and 12 smokers) were recruited for two different randomized, controlled, crossover pilot acute studies. In the first study, non-smokers were exposed to a control treatment (C; 300 mL of water with sugar) and a blueberry treatment (BB; 300 g of blueberry). In the second study, smokers underwent 3 different protocols: (1) - smoking treatment (S); (2) - control treatment (CS; 300 mL of water with sugar + smoking); (3) - blueberry treatment (BS; 300 g of blueberry + smoking). Each treatment (1 day long) was separated by a one week washout period. Blood pressure, peripheral arterial function (reactive hyperemia index, RHI, a marker of endothelial function) and arterial stiffness (digital augmentation index, dAix and dAix normalized by considering a heart rate of 75 bpm, dAix@75) were measured before and after each treatment. In the first study, the consumption of blueberry and control treatment acutely increased peripheral arterial function in the group of non-smokers. The improvement in RHI was higher and significantly different after blueberry treatment compared to the control treatment (54.8 ± 8.4% BB vs. 28.2 ± 8.3% C; p = 0.01). No effects were observed for markers of arterial stiffness, blood pressure and heart rate. Acute cigarette smoke significantly increased blood pressure and heart rate, while no significant effect was registered in peripheral arterial function and stiffness. The intake of blueberry and control treatment before a cigarette did not counteract the increase in blood pressure and heart rate, while it significantly improved peripheral arterial function. In particular, a significant increase was observed following BS (35.2 ± 7.5% RHI; p = 0.02) and CS treatments (34.6 ± 11.9% RHI; p = 0.02) when compared to only smoking treatment. No difference between BS and CS was detected. In conclusion, the intake of blueberry and control treatments acutely improved peripheral arterial dysfunction both in smoker and in non-smoker subjects. Further studies should be performed to confirm the results obtained and reveal the potential mechanisms of blueberry in the improvement of endothelial function.
几项研究已经证明富含多酚的食物在调节血管重塑和功能方面的重要作用。本研究旨在评估蓝莓（V. corymbosum）单一剂量对一组年轻志愿者外周动脉功能障碍的急性改善作用。24 名健康男性（12 名不吸烟者和 12 名吸烟者）被招募参加两项不同的随机、对照、交叉先导性急性研究。在第一项研究中，不吸烟者接受对照治疗（C；300 毫升含糖水）和蓝莓治疗（BB；300 克蓝莓）。在第二项研究中，吸烟者接受了 3 种不同的方案：（1）吸烟治疗（S）；（2）对照治疗（CS；300 毫升含糖水+吸烟）；（3）蓝莓治疗（BS；300 克蓝莓+吸烟）。每种治疗（持续 1 天）之间间隔一周洗脱期。在每次治疗前后测量血压、外周动脉功能（反应性充血指数，RHI，内皮功能的标志物）和动脉僵硬度（数字增强指数，dAix 和通过考虑心率为 75 bpm 归一化的 dAix@75，dAix@75）。在第一项研究中，蓝莓和对照治疗的摄入可急性改善非吸烟者的外周动脉功能。与对照治疗相比，蓝莓治疗后 RHI 的改善更高且差异显著（54.8±8.4% BB 与 28.2±8.3% C；p=0.01）。动脉僵硬度、血压和心率的标志物没有观察到影响。急性吸烟显著增加了血压和心率，而外周动脉功能和僵硬度没有明显变化。吸烟前摄入蓝莓和对照治疗并不能抵消血压和心率的增加，反而显著改善了外周动脉功能。特别是，与仅吸烟治疗相比，BS（35.2±7.5% RHI；p=0.02）和 CS 治疗（34.6±11.9% RHI；p=0.02）后观察到显著增加。BS 和 CS 之间没有差异。总之，蓝莓和对照治疗的摄入可急性改善吸烟者和非吸烟者的外周动脉功能障碍。应进一步开展研究以确认所获得的结果并揭示蓝莓改善内皮功能的潜在机制。
