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. 2025 Jun 12;121(6):847-850.
doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvaf027.

The Mediterranean diet displays an immunomodulatory effect that correlates with beneficial changes in carotid atherosclerosis

Ana Maria Ruiz-Leon  1   2   3   4 , Miguel Camafort  1   2 , Aleix Sala-Vila  2   5 , Rosa Gilabert  6 , Isabel Núñez  6 , Sara Castro-Barquero  2   4   7 , Montserrat Fitó  2   5 , Rosa María Lamuela-Raventós  2   4   8 , Xavier Pintó  9   10   11 , Ana García-Arellano  12 , Emilio Ros  1   2 , Ramon Estruch  1   2   4 , Rosa Casas  1   2   4
Affiliations

The Mediterranean diet displays an immunomodulatory effect that correlates with beneficial changes in carotid atherosclerosis

Ana Maria Ruiz-Leon et al. Cardiovasc Res. .
No abstract available

Keywords: Atherosclerosis; Cardiovascular disease; Carotid intima media thickness; Cytokines; Inflammation; Mediterranean diet.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: R.E. reports grants from the Fundación Dieta Mediterránea (Spain), and Cerveza y Salud (Spain), and personal fees for given lectures from Brewers of Europe (Belgium), the Fundación Cerveza y Salud (Spain), Pernaud-Ricard (Mexico), Instituto Cervantes (Alburquerque, USA), Instituto Cervantes (Milan, Italy), Instituto Cervantes (Tokyo, Japan), Lilly Laboratories (Spain), and the Wine and Culinary International Forum (Spain), as well as nonfinancial support for the organization of a National Congress on Nutrition and feeding trials with products from Grand Fountain and Uriach Laboratories (Spain). E.R. reports personal fees, grants, and nonfinancial support from the California Walnut Commission and Alexion; nonfinancial support from the International Nut Council; and financial support from the Spanish Arteriosclerosis Society. A.S.-V. has received grant funding through his institution from the California Walnut Commission, as well as support to attend professional meetings. R.M.L.-R. reports personal fees from Cerveceros de España, UNIDECO, personal fees, and other from Adventia, Wine in Moderation, Ecoveritas S.A., outside the submitted work. A.M.R.-L. reports personal fees from the Fundación Dieta Mediterránea (Spain). The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. All other authors report no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Results of an intervention study with a MeDiet supplemented with nuts or EVOO vs. a control diet (advice to follow a low-fat diet) after 2.2 years in an older Spanish population at high cardiovascular risk. (A) Graphical abstract: Schematic of the internal carotid artery showing inflammation markers, intima-media thickness (ICA-IMT) and maximum atheroma plaque height. Solid lines represent the known protective effect of the MeDiet on markers of inflammation, and on ICA-IMT and plaque height. Dashed lines represent the results of this study, which suggest that the MeDiet, especially when supplemented with nuts, shows an immunomodulatory effect correlating with beneficial changes in carotid atherosclerosis. (B) Flow diagram of study participants. (C) Adjusted forest plot of variation in maximum plaque height (mm) and maximum ICA-IMT (mm) in the MeDiet interventions with compared with the control after 2.2 years of study, related to changes in inflammation biomarkers (MeDiet + EVOO, n = 55; MeDiet + nuts, n = 42; control group, n = 61). General linear model approach to ANCOVA. Model 2 adjusted for sex, age at recruitment, baseline biomarker level, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total-cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, and medication use (hypoglycaemic drugs and statins). Black diamonds represent the standardized coefficient (B) together with the lines representing the 95% CI. P-values < 0.05 are marked with an asterisk (*). EVOO, extra-virgin olive oil; hs-CRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; ICA-IMT, intima-media thickness of the internal carotid artery; sICAM-1, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1; sVCAM-1, soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1; IL-10, interleukin 10; IL-18, interleukin 18; IL-1β, interleukin 1 beta; IL-6, interleukin 6; MCP-1, monocyte chemoattractant protein 1; MeDiet, Mediterranean diet; TNF-α, tumour necrosis factor alpha.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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