Changes in circulating postprandial proinflammatory cytokine concentrations in diet-controlled type 2 diabetes and the effect of ingested fat.

The proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)are thought to impair insulin signaling (1,2), and abnormally high levels of them are associated with insulin resistance (3,4) and type 2 diabetes (3,5). In patients with type 2 diabetes, a meal rich in fat, mainly in the form of sausages and butter, increases postprandial plasma concentrations of IL-6 and TNF, whereas a meal rich in carbohydrates has less effect (5). Current dietary recommendations for diabetic patients prescribe replacement of saturated fatty acids (SAFAs) with monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) in the diet (6). There is little information available on the effect of ingesting MUFAs on postprandial plasma IL-6 and TNFconcentrations in patients with type 2 diabetes. We therefore tested the effect of meals consisting of starch with or without added olive oil (MUFA) and cream (SAFA) on postprandial concentrations of plasma IL-6 and TNFin patients whose type 2 diabetes was controlled by diet alone.