Epidemiologic studies and clinical trials have demonstrated that the unique fatty acid profile of nuts beneficially affects serum lipids/lipoproteins, reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Nuts are low in SFA and high in PUFA and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA). Macadamia nuts are a rich source of MUFA. A randomized, crossover, controlled feeding study (5-wk diet periods) compared a Ma...

OBJECTIVES To study the influence of saturated (SFA) and unsaturated fatty acid (UFA) rich diets on mechanical function, morphology and oxidative stress in rat myocardium. METHODS Male, 60-day-old Wistar rats were fed a control (n=8), a SFA (n=8), or a UFA-rich diet (n=8) for sixty days. Mechanical function was studied in isolated left ventricle papillary muscle under isometric and isotonic c...

OBJECTIVES Short fibres of amosite asbestos (SFA), obtained by ball milling of long fibres (LFA), have been shown to be less pathogenic than long fibres. Accumulating evidence suggests an important role for differences in surface chemistry between fibres. Iron has been implicated in the pathogenesis of asbestos fibres. In this study infrared (IR) spectroscopy was used to compare LFA and SFA in ...

INTRODUCTION Exposure to secondhand smoke has immediate adverse respiratory and cardiovascular effects. A growing body of literature examining health trends following the implementation of public smoking bans has demonstrated reductions in the rates of myocardial infarction and stroke, but there has been no extensive work examining asthma hospitalizations. The aim of this study was to determine...

BACKGROUND The clinical significance of magnetic resonance-imaged plaque characteristics in the superficial femoral artery (SFA) is not well established. We studied associations of the ankle-brachial index (ABI) and leg symptoms with MRI-measured plaque area and percent lumen area in the SFA in participants with and without lower-extremity peripheral arterial disease (PAD). METHODS AND RESULT...

This study investigated the correlation between the plasma phospholipid (PL) saturated fatty acid (SFA) concentration (as a surrogate marker of SFA intake) and plasma lipid and lipoprotein lipid concentrations in 139 healthy Australian men aged 20-55 years old with widely varying intakes of saturated fat (vegans, n=18; ovolacto vegetarians, n=43; moderate meat eaters, n=60; high meat eaters, n=...

Heart-healthy dietary recommendations include decreasing the intake of saturated fatty acids (SFA). However, the relative benefit of replacing SFA with monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), or carbohydrates (CARB) is still being debated. We have used two mouse models of atherosclerosis, low density lipoprotein receptor-deficient (LDLRKO) and apolipoprotein E-de...

The present study aimed to determine the effect of positional distribution of long-chain SFA in TAG, especially at the sn-1, 3 positions, on fat deposition using the C57BL/6 mouse model. Throughout the 15 weeks of the study, mice were fed with diets fortified with palm olein (POo), chemically interesterified POo (IPOo) and soyabean oil (SOY). Mice receiving the SOY-enriched diet gained signific...