Saturated Fat and Protein Effects on Atherogenic Dyslipidemia

Trial Information

Saturated Fat and Protein Effects on Atherogenic Dyslipidemia

Clinic Visits:

Participants will visit the clinic a total of 11 times from screen to completion of study.
This will include weekly visits with the nutritionist and 9 visits requiring blood draws (at
screen and on 2 consecutive visits after each dietary period). At each visit, participants
will be weighed, waist and hip circumference will be measured and blood pressure will be
monitored. The total amount of blood collected during the course of the study will be 455
mL.

Screening visit (SV: 1 hour):

Recruiters will initially determine eligibility through review of a screening questionnaire
and a telephone or personal interview. If a potential subject is eligible and interested, an
orientation package will be mailed that will include written information about the study
requirements. Interested individuals passing pre-screening will be scheduled for a screening
blood draw visit to determine final eligibility. At the screening visit (SV), participants
will give informed consent, review their medical history with a registered nurse, and have
their blood pressure, weight, height, and waist and hip circumference measured. Thirty ml of
blood will be drawn for measurement of plasma triglycerides (TG), total-C, LDL-C, HDL-C,
glucose and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). Women of childbearing potential will be given
a beta-Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (b-hCG) urine pregnancy test. Participants will be
contacted within 2 weeks to notify them of their eligibility.

Nutritionist Visits (Initial: 1 hr):

Participants will meet weekly with a nutritionist to receive counseling including weight
management and diet review. At these meetings, participants will receive a week's worth of
frozen entrees and study foods, as well as standardized menus with check lists. During the
washout period (weeks 6-8; weeks 12-14), subjects will continue to refrain from alcohol but
will consume their usual home diet for 14 days.

Post-diet Visits Requiring Blood Draws (A visits: 1.5 hr, B visits: 2.5 hr):

Participants will visit the clinic on two separate days following completion of each diet to
provide blood samples. Duplicate sampling reduces biological variability, and hence improves
the power of the study to detect significant diet-induced changes in measurement. On the
penultimate day of each diet (visits 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A) a fasting blood draw (45 mL) will be
taken for plasma measurements (TG, total-C, LDL-C, HDL-C, lipoprotein subfractions, glucose,
insulin, apolipoproteins AI, AII, B, and CIII, and inflammatory markers). On the last day of
each dietary period (visits 1B, 2B, 3B, 4B) participants will provide a second fasting blood
sample (for lipids and lipoproteins as above). Lipoprotein lipase and hepatic lipase
activities will also be measured in plasma (20mL) collected 15 minutes after intravenous
heparin (75 units/kg).

Clinical Procedures:

Clinical measurements: Blood pressure will be measured 3 times in a sitting position and the
last 2 values averaged. Anthropometric measurements include height, weight, waist and hip
circumference, and % body fat by bioimpedance (Tanita scale). Waist circumference is
measured two times at the iliac crest and hip circumference is measured at the widest point
of the hips.

Standard Blood sampling: Using standard blood collection procedures, blood samples will be
collected from participants after a 12-14 hour fast. The blood will be collected into tubes
containing the following preservative solution: 3.0 gms EDTA (dipotassium), 1.7 mg P-Pack,
0.15 gms gentamycin sulfate, 0.15 gms chloramphenicol, 5.96 mls aprotinin (Sigma A-6279),
and 0.30 gms sodium azide all of which are diluted to 20mls with doubly deionized water.
Plasma is separated by immediate centrifugation at 4°C. Lipid and lipoprotein measurements
are performed and aliquots of plasma are frozen for future analyses.

Post-heparin Blood Sampling: A blood sample (20ml) will be drawn 15 minutes after
intravenous administration of a heparin bolus (75 U/kg, see Risk section for justification)
for the analysis of plasma lipase activity. Prior to administration, participants will be
interviewed for family history of clotting disorders or personal contraindications including
use of anticoagulants, history of bleeding or bruising abnormalities or other diseases,
allergies, or recent dental work. Following administration, participants will remain in
clinic for 2 hours under observation. They will also be provided with an information sheet
regarding heparin and the procedure.

Measurement of endothelial function: Endothelial function will be assessed in the fasting
state by finger reactive hyperemia peripheral arterial tonometry (RH-PAT, Endo-Pat2000,
Itamar Medical, Israel) and expressed as RH-PAT index. Participants will rest in a supine
position in a quiet, temperature-controlled room for 30 min. prior to PAT measurements and
will abstain from caffeine for 6 hours and from water for 2 hours prior to the test, per
manufacturer's guidelines.