The Heart of Vascular Inflammation

Inflammation instigates the transformation of oxidized LDL cholesterol deposits in the arterial wall (endothelium) into atheroma plaques that mark progressing cardiovascular disease. Normal functioning inflammation response to even vascular injury is resolved by the balance of anti-inflammatory response after healing. However, in situations of chronic inflammation and genetic defect, the continuous loop of inflammation and deposit build-up can cause severe blood vessel damage and narrowing of the artery by the growing atheroma (plaque). This condition can lead to heart attack or stroke. One method, then, to inhibit atherosclerosis progression is to modulate the inflammatory response.

Harvard researchers published results in the New England Journal of Medicine, showing women with the highest levels of CRP were about 2.5-times more likely than those with the lowest levels of CRP to experience a first cardiovascular event such as heart attack or stroke.¹ They noted CRP as a predictive marker was 40-percent more effective than LDL cholesterol measurements.

Compared to omega-6 safflower oil supplementation (7 g/d), fish oil supplementation (14 g/d) decreased CRP and IL-6, a pro-inflammatory cytokine, with an overall net effect of improving plasma lipid profiles in postmenopausal women.²

In 2008, Scientists from Jean Mayer USDA Nutrition Research Center, Tufts University, Boston, reported an increased ratio of EPA/DHA to omega-6s lowers markers of inflammation as well as overall cholesterol accumulation, leading to decreased aortic lesion formation.³

Most recently, Japanese animal research found oral EPA administration modulated VCAM and other inflammatory mediators, including those induced by TNFa, showing the potential to reduce and stabilize atherosclerotic lesions.⁴

While any attenuator of inflammation could potentially help quell atherosclerosis development and progression, only certain anti-inflammatory ingredients have undergone research. Heart-healthy fiber not only reduces cholesterol, but it also can lower indicators of inflammation. Initial trials showed high-fiber diets could reduce CRP levels.^5,6 However, results published in 2008 from the Women's health Initiative Observations Study showed high-fiber diets correlate to lower plasma levels of IL-6 and TNFa, but not CRP levels.⁷ While the direct connection has not been definitively made between fiber's cholesterol benefit and anti-inflammatory actions, a 2008 study found a high-fiber, low-fat diet in diabetic men decreased inflammatory markers, cell adhesion (VCAM and ICAM) and oxidative stress.⁸

The link between diabetes, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease is marked by inflammation. A niacin-bound chromium complex (as ChromeMate®, InterHealth Nutraceuticals) was found to significantly reduce vascular inflammation in a study presented at the American Diabetes Association’s 68th Annual Scientific Session, June 2008, San Francisco. Funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the eight-week study compared ChromeMate to chromium picolinate in a diabetic animal model. The group taking ChromeMate experienced significantly lower total cholesterol and triglycerides than the chromium picolinate group; and levels of TNFa and other inflammatory markers were lower in the ChromeMate group compared to the chromium picolinate group, which had no reduction in those markers.

These interconnected health issues all have one lifestyle factor in common—obesity. The 2008 American Heart Association (AHA) conference showcased various research discoveries of 10-year-old obese children with the arteries of 45-year-olds, abnormal enlargement of the left atrium chamber of the heart in obese children, and impairment in the heart's ability to relax between beats in both overweight and obese children.^9,10,11