Effect of Oatmeal on Postprandial Vascular Compliance Following a High Fat Meal

Background and aim: Postprandial hyperlipidaemia has been associated with acute cardiovascular effects e.g. endothelial dysfunction and peripheral vasodilatation. Oats have known health benefits, and may reduce the transient, post-prandial endothelial dysfunction. The aim of this short study was to investigate if markers of endothelial function pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index corrected for heart rate (AIx@75) are affected by a meal with varying levels of saturated fat, with or without oatmeal. Methods and results: Fourteen subjects (aged between 22 and 51 years) were recruited. On their first visit, following baseline measurements of anthropometry, blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), PWV and AIx@75, they were given one of three meals (low fat, high fat, and high fat with 60g oatmeal) in a randomised order. Subjects returned three hours later for re-assessment of BP, PWV and AIx@75. Visits two and three followed the same protocol, but only BP, HR, PWV and AIx@75 were measured. There was a significant correlation between baseline PWV and systolic pressure (p<0.02), and AIx@75 and diastolic pressure (p<0.005). AIx@75 was positively related to BMI and waist circumference (p<0.01 and p<0.005 respectively). AIx@75 fell following the high fat meal (p<0.05), but not when oats were taken. Heart rate increased following the high fat meal with oats (p<0.05), but no differences were found between fasting and postprandial PWV after any of the meals. Conclusion: AIx@75 was correlated with BMI and waist circumference. The decrease in AIx@75 following the high fat meal requires further investigation, and AIx@75 is possibly a more sensitive marker of arterial compliance than PWV in a young healthy population.