Effect of diets rich in oleic acid, stearic acid and linoleic acid on postprandial haemostatic factors in young healthy men

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of stearic acid -, oleic acid- and linoleic acid-rich meals on postprandial haemostasis in young healthy volunteers whose background diets had been controlled for 14 d in a residential study. Six healthy male volunteers were assigned randoml y to consume diets rich in stearic acid, oleic acid or linoleic acid for 14 d. On day 15, plasma lipids and haematological variables were measured in the fasted state, and 3 and 7 h (factor VII and prothrombin activation pept ide fragments, 1 and 2 only) after consumption of a test meal. Test meals p rovided 40 % of the subjects' daily energy requirement, with 41 % of the en ergy provided as fat, 17 % energy as protein and 42 % energy as carbohydrat e. The mean fat content of the meal was 45 (sd 5) g. Significant alteration s from fasted values were observed for activated factor VII (P<0.05 after 7 h), factor VII antigen (P<0.05 after 7 h), prothrombin activation peptide fragments 1 and 2 (P<0.05 after 7 h) and plasminogen activator inhibitor ty pe 1 activity (P<0.01 after 3 h) after consumption of each of the three mea ls. No significant differences were observed in haemostatic values (factor VII coagulant activity, factor VII antigen, tissue plasminogen activator ac tivity prothrombin activation peptide fragment and plasminogen activator in hibitor type-1) with regard to diet except for activated factor VII at 3 h; values were higher after the oleic acid- and linoleic acid-rich meals than after the stearic acid-rich meal (P<0.05). After consumption of each of th e three meals, chylomicrons contained proportionately more palmitic acid th an the lipids ingested. The present study shows that there are demonstrable changes in postprandial haemostasis when young healthy volunteers with con trolled dietary backgrounds are challenged with a physiological fat load. T hese changes are independent of the fatty acid composition of the test meal s.