The effect of a virtually cholesterol-free, high-linoleic-acid vegetarian diet on serum lipoproteins of children with familial hypercholesterolemia (type II-A).

The effect of a virtually cholesterol-free, high-linoleic-acid vegetarian diet and a high-linoleic-acid "normal" diet with a moderate cholesterol content was tested in 39 children heterozygote for hypercholesterolemia type II-A. The diets were administered in an outpatient cross-over design of two periods of 10 weeks each and the serum lipoproteins were analyzed at the end of the two 10-week periods. The vegetarian diet induced a decrease in serum concentrations of LDL-II total and free cholesterol and of apo-B, by an average of 10%, whereas HDL cholesterol and apo-A-I decreased by 4%. The disproportionately large change in LDL compared to the small change in HDL was interpreted as an antiatherogenic effect of the vegetarian diet.