Effect of the Mediterranean Diet With and Without Weight Loss on Markers of Inflammation in Men With Metabolic Syndrome

• Published in: Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) Md.), 2013-01, Vol.21 (1), p.51-57
• Main Authors: Richard, Caroline, Couture, Patrick, Desroches, Sophie, Lamarche, Benoît
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cytokines; Diet; Food; Health care; Health risk assessment; Inflammation; Insulin resistance; Mens health; Metabolic syndrome; Obesity; Proteins; Studies; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Weight control; Womens health
• ISSN: 1930-7381; 1930-739X
• DOI: 10.1038/oby.2012.148

Intervention studies on the Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) have often led to weight loss, which may have contributed to the purported anti-inflammatory effects of the MedDiet. To investigate the impact of the MedDiet consumed under controlled feeding conditions before (-WL) and after weight loss (+WL) on markers of inflammation in men with metabolic syndrome (MetS). Subjects (N = 26, male, 24-65 years) with MetS first consumed a North American control diet for 5 weeks followed by a MedDiet for 5 weeks both in isocaloric feeding conditions. After a 20-week weight loss period in free-living conditions (10 ± 3% reduction in body weight, P < 0.01), participants consumed the MedDiet again under isocaloric-controlled feeding condition for 5 weeks. MedDiet - WL significantly reduced plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations (-26.1%, P = 0.02) and an arbitrary inflammatory score (-9.9%, P = 0.01) that included CRP, interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-18, and tumor necrosis factor-7agr; (TNF-α) compared with the control diet. The MedDiet + WL significantly reduced plasma IL-6 (-20.7%) and IL-18 (-15.6%, both P ≤ 0.02) concentrations compared with the control diet but had no further significant impact on plasma CRP concentration. Participants with a reduction in waist circumference ≥8.5 cm after MedDiet + WL showed significantly greater reductions in inflammation markers than those with a change in waist circumference