Beneficial Effects of Polyphenol-Rich Food Oils in Cardiovascular Health and Disease

A variety of vegetable and fruit derived food oils are considered beneficial for human health due to their content of functional components including their positive effects in cardiovascular system. In addition to the favorable ratio of unsaturated versus saturated fatty acids, some of these oils include also other health beneficial compounds such as vitamins, minerals, pigments, enzymes and phenolic compounds. Particularly polyphenols have been documented to exert numerous positive effects in cardiovascular system including their anti-hypertensive, anti-atherogenic as well as cardio- and vasculo- protective effects in subjects suffering from various cardiovascular and cardiometabolic diseases, likely via their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-coagulant, anti-proliferative and anti-diabetic properties. However, it has not been proven so far whether the positive cardiovascular effects of polyphenol-rich food oils are, and to what measure, attributed to their phenolic content. Thus, the current review aims to summarize the main cardiovascular effects of major polyphenol-rich food oils including olive, flaxseed, soybean, sesame and coconut oils, and to uncover the role of their phenolic compounds in these effects.

Keywords

food oils

polyphenols

cardiovascular disease

hypertension

atherosclerosis

heart hypertrophy

cardioprotection

Funding

APVV-21-0194/Slovak Research and Development Agency

2/0104/20/Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Academy of Sciences

Štefan Schwarz Support Fund of the Slovak Academy of Sciences

Figures

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Fig. 1.

Schematic representation of the molecular mechanisms involved in the positive effects of oleuropein in preventing the development of hypertension and myocardial infarction and apoptosis in the heart. Oleuropein reduces release of proinflammatory cytokines (serum MDA, IL-6,IL-1 $\alpha{}$ and TNF- $\alpha{}$ ) and increases intracellular calcium, through inactivation of endothelin-1. Increase in intracellular calcium then cause increase in NO production, which leads to decrease of apoptosis, reduction of myocardial infarct size and improvement of the heart function. Oleuropein also could increase NO production by activation of AMPK/Akt/eNOS signaling pathways. Moreover, increase in NO production leads to vasodilation and ameliorate the development of hypertension. Oleuropein also provides antioxidant defense (blocking ROS production) trough the activation of Nrf-2 and increase in SOD and GPX levels. This process leads not only to vasodilation and anti-hypertensive effect, but also to decrease of apoptosis, reduction of myocardial infarct size and improvement of the heart function. Akt, protein kinase B, AMPK, 5’ adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase; Ca, calcium; ET-1, endothelin 1; eNOS, endothelial nitric oxide synthase; GPX, glutathione peroxidase; IL-1 $\alpha{}$ , interleukin 1 alpha; IL-6, interleukin 6; MDA, malondialdehyde; NO, nitric oxide; Nrf-2, nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2; ROS, reactive oxygene spieces; SOD, superoxide dismutase; TNF- $\alpha{}$ , tumor necrosis factor- $\alpha{}$ .

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Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. Print ISSN 1530-6550 Electronic ISSN 2153-8174