Assessment of Post-Prandial Effects of a Fast-Food Meal on Inflammatory Markers

现在很明显，高水平的炎症标志物与几个严重的健康问题直接相关，包括心脏病，糖尿病和肥胖。 常规的饮食选择可以影响炎症标志物的水平，尽管我们不知道各种食物和不同的脂肪来源如何影响这些标志物。 在美国，很多人经常在快餐店吃饭。 一般来说，快餐往往是高饱和脂肪和低单不饱和脂肪。 即使是“更健康”的选择，如水果和蔬菜沙拉，也含有饱和脂肪。 饱和脂肪与高胆固醇水平有关;而单不饱和脂肪被认为有助于降低胆固醇水平。 这项研究的目的是确定吃饱和脂肪含量高的快餐的急性效应，以及它是否会导致炎症标志物的增加和睾酮的下降，而不是吃低水平饱和脂肪和高水平单不饱和脂肪的食物。 这项研究是了解膳食脂肪摄入如何直接影响心脏病，糖尿病和肥胖症风险因素的第一步。 在三天内，间隔三天，健康的成年人进行口服葡萄糖耐量试验（OGTT），富含饱和脂肪的膳食（类似于快餐）和富含不饱和脂肪的膳食（健康脂肪）。在餐后或OGTT后24小时内定期收集血液样本，以研究这些干预措施对循环脂质、氧化应激标志物、炎症和睾酮的不同影响。分析旨在评估饮食与动脉粥样硬化危险因素之间的急性联系，特别关注炎症标志物。 数据收集已完成，30例受试者入组研究，并采集了所有研究样本。已收到关于分级脂质、促炎细胞因子、炎症标志物、氧化应激标志物和睾酮水平的数据，并进行了初步数据分析。

It is now evident that high levels of inflammatory markers are directly related to several serious health problems, including heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Regular dietary choices can influence levels of inflammatory markers, although we do not know for certain how various foods and different fat sources actually affect these markers. In the United States, a large number of people eat at fast food restaurants regularly. In general, fast food tends to be high in saturated fats and low in mono-unsaturated fats. Even "healthier" choices, such as fruit and vegetable salads are served with dressings loaded with saturated fats. Saturated fat is associated with high cholesterol levels; whereas, mono-unsaturated fat is thought to contribute to lower cholesterol levels. The purpose of this study is to determine the acute effect of eating a fast food meal high in saturated fat and whether it results in greater increases in inflammatory markers and declines in testosterone than eating a meal with low levels of saturated fat and higher levels of mono-unsaturated fat. This study is a first step in learning about how dietary fat intake can directly impact risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Over three days, separated by three-day intervals, healthy adult individuals were given an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT), a meal rich in saturated fat (similar to a fast food) and a meal rich in unsaturated fat (healthy fat). Blood samples were collected at regular intervals over 24 hours following the meal or OGTT to investigate the different effects of these interventions on circulating lipids, markers of oxidative stress, inflammation and testosterone. Analyses are designed to evalute the acute connection between diet and risk factors for atherosclerosis focusing on inflammatory markers in particular. Data collection has been completed, with 30 subjects enrolled in the study, and all study samples collected. Data on levels of fractionated lipids, pro-inflammatory cytokines, inflammatory markers, markers of oxidative stress and testosterone has been received and preliminary data analyses have been conducted.