title: Dietary red palm oil supplementation reduces myocardial infarct size in an isolated perfused rat heart model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recent studies have shown that dietary red palm oil (RPO) supplementation improves functional recovery following ischaemia/reperfusion in isolated hearts. The main aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary RPO supplementation on myocardial infarct size after ischaemia/reperfusion injury. The effects of dietary RPO supplementation on matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2) activation and PKB/Akt phosphorylation were also investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Male Wistar rats were divided into three groups and fed a standard rat chow diet (SRC), a SRC supplemented with RPO, or a SRC supplemented with sunflower oil (SFO), for a five week period, respectively. After the feeding period, hearts were excised and perfused on a Langendorff perfusion apparatus. Hearts were subjected to thirty minutes of normothermic global ischaemia and two hours of reperfusion. Infarct size was determined by triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining. Coronary effluent was collected for the first ten minutes of reperfusion in order to measure MMP2 activity by gelatin zymography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Dietary RPO-supplementation decreased myocardial infarct size significantly when compared to the SRC-group and the SFO-supplemented group (9.1 +/- 1.0% versus 30.2 +/- 3.9% and 27.1 +/- 2.4% respectively). Both dietary RPO- and SFO-supplementation were able to decrease MMP2 activity when compared to the SRC fed group. PKB/Akt phosphorylation (Thr 308) was found to be significantly higher in the dietary RPO supplemented group when compared to the SFO supplemented group at 10 minutes into reperfusion. There was, however, no significant changes observed in ERK phosphorylation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dietary RPO-supplementation was found to be more effective than SFO-supplementation in reducing myocardial infarct size after ischaemia/reperfusion injury. Both dietary RPO and SFO were able to reduce MMP2 activity, which suggests that MMP2 activity does not play a major role in protection offered by RPO. PKB/Akt phosphorylation may, however, be involved in RPO mediated protection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville, South Africa.
authors.forename: Dirk J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Bester
authors.forename: Krisztina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kupai
authors.forename: Tamas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Csont
authors.forename: Gergu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Szucs
authors.forename: Csaba
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Csonka
authors.forename: Adriaan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Esterhuyse
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ferdinandy
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Rooyen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D006321:Heart; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D020778:Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000073878:Palm Oil; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000188:drug therapy; D000074242:Sunflower Oil
chemical_list: D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated; D010938:Plant Oils; D000074242:Sunflower Oil; D000073878:Palm Oil; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D020778:Matrix Metalloproteinase 2; C522363:Mmp2 protein, rat