High Cholesterol
Conditions
Keywords
Cholesterol, Cetoleic acid
Brief summary
High cholesterol concentration is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), and consumption of fish has been associated with a lower CVD risk in several studies. The beneficial health effects of consuming fish have traditionally been ascribed to the long-chain PUFA (LC-PUFA) EPA (C20:5n-3) and DHA (C22:6n-3), although consumption of fish oils or concentrates with high EPA and DHA contents does not affect the cholesterol concentration in humans and lowers the cholesterol concentration in rats and mice only when given in very high doses. Fish oils contain a plethora of fatty acids besides EPA and DHA, and in recent years, increased focus has been on the long-chain MUFA (LC-MUFA) cetoleic acid (C22:1n-11). Cetoleic acid is found in high amounts in oils from certain fish species such as herring, which has relatively low contents of both EPA and DHA. The investigators have recently summarised and meta-analysed the available literature that investigates the effects of diets containing fish oils or fish oil concentrates that have a high content of cetoleic acid but low or no content of EPA and DHA on cholesterol concentration in rodents, showing that cetoleic acid-rich fish oils and concentrates prevent high cholesterol concentration.
Interventions
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENTHerring oil concentrate
Capsules containing herring oil concentrate, taken daily for 8 weeks.
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENTControl
Capsules containing control oil, taken daily for 8 weeks.
Sponsors
The Norwegian Seafood Research Fund
University of Bergen
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
QUADRUPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
20 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* BMI over 25 kg/m2 * Stable body weight last 3 months
Exclusion criteria
* Allergies towards fish, milk, egg, gluten * Tobacco use (cigarettes or snus) * Diseases affecting the heart, intestinal function, kidney function or insulin secretion * Use of medications targeting cholesterol -or glucose metabolism * Use of dietary supplements * Pregnant or breastfeeding * Following a strict diet * Had bariatric surgery or using medications for weight loss * Recent or planned surgical procedures * High intake of fish/seafood
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Serum concentration of LDL-cholesterol | 8 weeks | LDL-cholesterol will be measured in fasting serum samples |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Serum concentration of HDL-cholesterol | 8 weeks | HDL-cholesterol will be measured in fasting serum samples |
| Serum concentration of total cholesterol | 8 weeks | Total cholesterol will be measured in fasting serum samples |
| Serum concentrations of apolipoproteins | 8 weeks | Lipoproteins will be measured in fasting serum samples |
| Serum concentrations of amino acids metabolites | 8 weeks | Metabolites of amino acids will be measured in fasting serum samples |
| Body composition | 8 weeks | Percent body fat will be measured using bioimpedance |
| Fatty acid composition in leukocytes | 8 weeks | Leukocytes will be isolated from fasting serum before quantification of fatty acids |
| Serum concentration of glucose | 8 weeks | Glucose will be measured in serum sampled in fasting condition |
| Serum concentration of insulin | 8 weeks | Insulin will be measured in serum sampled in fasting condition |
| Serum concentration of one-carbon pathway metabolites | 8 weeks | Metabolites in the one-carbon pathway will be measured in fasting serum samples |
Countries
Norway
Outcome results
None listed