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Journal of Lipid Research, Vol. 44, 2304-2310, December 2003
Copyright © 2003 by American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Effect of a therapeutic lifestyle change diet on immune functions of moderately hypercholesterolemic humans

Sung Nim Han^*, Lynette S. Leka^*, Alice H. Lichtenstein, Lynne M. Ausman and Simin N. Meydani^1,*,

^* Nutritional Immunology Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA
Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA
Department of Pathology, Sackler Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, MA

¹ To whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail: simin.meydani{at}tufts.edu

Hypercholesterolemia is a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD) and also could contribute to impaired immune response. The National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel recommends a therapeutic lifestyle change (TLC) diet to reduce the risk for CHD. We investigated the effects of changing from a high-fat Western diet to a low-fat diet in accordance with a TLC diet on immune functions of older adults with hypercholesterolemia to determine whether improving the lipid profile via dietary intervention would have beneficial effects on immune functions. In a double-blind study, 18 subjects consumed both a Western diet (38% fat) and a TLC diet (28% fat) for 32 days in a randomized order. Measures of cellular immune responses, including delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response, in vitro lymphocyte proliferation, and interleukin (IL)-2 production, and production of proinflammatory mediators, including tumor necrosis factor-, IL-6, IL-1ß, and prostaglandin E₂, were determined. DTH response and lymphocyte proliferative response increased significantly (29% and 27%, respectively) after consumption of a TLC diet.

Our results indicate that consumption of a TLC diet enhances T cell-mediated immune functions in older adults with elevated cholesterol level. This might be a clinically important benefit, considering the decline of T cell-mediated immune functions with aging and evidence of impaired immune function associated with hypercholesterolemia.

Supplementary key words low-fat diet • immune response • dietary fat • inflammatory response

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