Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2023 May;30(3):219-225.
doi: 10.1007/s40292-023-00571-8. Epub 2023 Mar 28.

Cocoa Consumption Decreases Oxidative Stress, Proinflammatory Mediators and Lipid Peroxidation in Healthy Subjects: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Dose-Response Clinical Trial

Davide Grassi  1 , Francesca Mai  2 , Martina De Feo  2 , Remo Barnabei  2 , Augusto Carducci  2 , Giovambattista Desideri  2 , Stefano Necozione  2 , Leen Allegaert  3 , Herwig Bernaert  3 , Claudio Ferri  2
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Cocoa Consumption Decreases Oxidative Stress, Proinflammatory Mediators and Lipid Peroxidation in Healthy Subjects: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Dose-Response Clinical Trial

Davide Grassi et al. High Blood Press Cardiovasc Prev. 2023 May.

Abstract

Introduction: Cocoa flavonoids have been described to reduce the cardiovascular risk. Nevertheless, the involved mechanisms should be clarified and the dose-effect relation has never been evaluated.

Aim: To investigate the dose-dependent effects of cocoa flavonoids on markers of endothelial and platelet activation and oxidative stress.

Methods: According to a randomized, double-blind, controlled, cross-over design, 20 healthy nonsmokers were assigned to receive either five treatments with daily intake of 10 g cocoa (0, 80, 200, 500 and 800 mg cocoa flavonoids/day) in five periods lasting 1 week each.

Results: Compared with flavonoid-free cocoa control, cocoa reduced sICAM-1 mean values [from 1190.2 to 1123.0; 906.3; 741.7 and 625.6 pg/mL (p = 0.0198 and p = 0.0016, for 500 and 800 mg respectively], sCD40L mean values [from 218.8 to 210.2; 165.5; 134.5 and 128.4 pg/mL (p = 0.023 and p = 0.013, for 500 and 800 mg respectively] and 8-isoprostanes F2 mean values [from 4703.9 to 4670.7; 2000.1; 2098.4 and 2052.3 pg/mL (p = 0.025; p = 0.034 and p = 0.029, for 200, 500 and 800 mg respectively)].

Conclusions: In our study we observed that short-term cocoa consumption improved proinflammatory mediators, lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress with a significant effect for higher dosages of flavonoids. Our findings suggest cocoa might be a valid tool for dietary intervention in prevention of atherosclerosis.

Keywords: Atherosclerosis; Cardiovascular protection; Cocoa; Endothelial activation; Endothelium; Flavonoids; Oxidative stress.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Davide Grassi, Francesca Mai, Martina De Feo, Remo Barnabei, Augusto Carducci, Giovambattista Desideri, Stefano Necozione, Leen Allegaert, Herwig Bernaert and Claudio Ferri declare that they have no potential conflicts of interest that might be relevant to this work.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Effects of cocoa on sICAM-1 levels in 20 healthy volunteers. Data are expressed as least square means with standard error of the mean. Data points with different superscripts are significantly different. Differences are considered significant when p < 0.05
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Effects of cocoa on sCD40L levels in 20 healthy volunteers. Data are expressed as least square means with standard error of the mean. Data points with different superscripts are significantly different. Differences are considered significant when p < 0.05
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Effects of cocoa on 8-iso-PGF2 levels levels in 20 healthy volunteers. Data are expressed as least square means with standard error of the mean. Data points with different superscripts are significantly different. Differences are considered significant when p < 0.05
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. GBD 2015 Mortality and Causes of Death Collaborators Global, regional, and national life expectancy, all-cause mortality, and cause-specific mortality for 249 causes of death, 1980–2015: a systematic analysis for the global burden of Disease Study 2015. Lancet. 2016;388(10053):1459–544. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31012-1. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Grassi D, Desideri G, Ferri C. Cardiovascular risk and endothelial dysfunction: the preferential route for atherosclerosis. Curr Pharm Biotechnol. 2011;12(9):1343–53. doi: 10.2174/138920111798281018. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Madamanchi NR, Vendrov A, Runge MS. Oxidative stress and vascular disease. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2005;25(1):29–38. doi: 10.1161/01.ATV.0000150649.39934.13. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Desideri G, Ferri C. Endothelial activation. Sliding door to atherosclerosis. Curr Pharm Des. 2005;11:2163–75. doi: 10.2174/1381612054367382. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Grassi D, Desideri G, Croce G, Tiberti S, Aggio A, Ferri C. Flavonoids, vascular function and cardiovascular protection. Curr Pharm Des. 2009;15(10):1072–84. doi: 10.2174/138161209787846982. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources