title: Effect of a therapeutic lifestyle change diet on immune functions of moderately hypercholesterolemic humans.
abstract: Hypercholesterolemia is a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD) and also could contribute to impaired immune response. The National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel recommends a therapeutic lifestyle change (TLC) diet to reduce the risk for CHD. We investigated the effects of changing from a high-fat Western diet to a low-fat diet in accordance with a TLC diet on immune functions of older adults with hypercholesterolemia to determine whether improving the lipid profile via dietary intervention would have beneficial effects on immune functions. In a double-blind study, 18 subjects consumed both a Western diet (38% fat) and a TLC diet (28% fat) for 32 days in a randomized order. Measures of cellular immune responses, including delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response, in vitro lymphocyte proliferation, and interleukin (IL)-2 production, and production of proinflammatory mediators, including tumor necrosis factor-alpha, IL-6, IL-1beta, and prostaglandin E2, were determined. DTH response and lymphocyte proliferative response increased significantly (29% and 27%, respectively) after consumption of a TLC diet. Our results indicate that consumption of a TLC diet enhances T cell-mediated immune functions in older adults with elevated cholesterol level. This might be a clinically important benefit, considering the decline of T cell-mediated immune functions with aging and evidence of impaired immune function associated with hypercholesterolemia.
authors.affiliation: Nutritional Immunology Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Sung Nim
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Lynette S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Leka
authors.forename: Alice H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Lichtenstein
authors.forename: Lynne M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Ausman
authors.forename: Simin N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Meydani
mesh_terms: D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D015232:Dinoprostone / Q000096:biosynthesis; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000097:blood / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000276:immunology*; D006968:Hypersensitivity, Delayed / Q000276:immunology; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008019:Life Style; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D007375:Interleukin-1; D007376:Interleukin-2; D015850:Interleukin-6; D008074:Lipoproteins; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; C030104:lipoprotein cholesterol; D002784:Cholesterol; D015232:Dinoprostone