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. 2012 Aug;31(4):275-9.
doi: 10.1080/07315724.2012.10720433.

Habitual flavonoid intake and endothelial function in healthy humans

Naomi D L Fisher  1 , Shelley Hurwitz, Norman K Hollenberg
Affiliations

Habitual flavonoid intake and endothelial function in healthy humans

Naomi D L Fisher et al. J Am Coll Nutr. 2012 Aug.

Abstract

Objective: Endothelial function, as measured by noninvasive techniques, is known to vary widely within populations. Our study was designed to test the hypothesis that this variation is determined in large part by a person's habitual dietary intake of flavonoids.

Methods: This was an analytical study examining the relationship between endothelial function and dietary flavonoids in 19 healthy older adults (mean age 72 years). The study took place in the inpatient Clinical Research Center of the Brigham and Women's Hospital. Habitual flavonoid intake was assessed via a focused food frequency questionnaire. Endothelial function, measured as the reactive hyperemia response to 1 dose of flavonoid-rich cocoa, was recorded with a plethysmographic device via peripheral arterial tonometry (PAT).

Results: Background flavonoid intake and the reactive hyperemia PAT (RH-PAT) response were significantly correlated (r = 0.7, p = 0.001); subjects with higher habitual flavonoid intake showed a significantly greater RH-PAT response than did lower consumers. PAT response to cocoa was also significantly correlated with simultaneous flavanol concentration in the blood (r = 0.5, p = 0.03).

Conclusion: Individual variation in endothelial function among healthy older people, measured as PAT response to flavonoid-rich cocoa, is highly dependent upon usual daily flavonoid consumption. These data raise the possibility that the consumption of fruits and vegetables dictates basal endothelial function, likely related to their flavonoid content and influence on nitric oxide.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
There was a highly significant correlation between habitual flavonoid intake and endothelial function as measured by the continuous reactive-hyperemia peripheral arterial tonometry (RH- PAT) response to an acute dose of cocoa (r=0.7, p=0.001).
Figure 2
Figure 2
PAT responsiveness according to habitual flavonoid consumers at baseline, after initial cup of flavanol-rich cocoa. There was a significantly increasing trend across the low, medium and high habitual flavonoid intake groups for RH-PAT response (p=0.001; Figure 2a) and for PAT response (p=0.01; Figure 2b).
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