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Query: UMLS:C0004153 (atherosclerosis)
 77,401 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Traditional food is culturally, economically and nutritionally important for the Greenlandic Inuit people. In the 1970s the preventive effect of marine fat on cardiovascular disease, thrombosis and atherosclerosis was described. The low incidence of ischemic heart disease among Greenlanders has been related to the high intake of marine food. Since 1990 routine autopsies have taken place in two towns in Greenland, Nuuk and Ilulissat. The autopsies represent 26% of the total number of deaths in these two towns. Samples have been collected from 104 autopsies. International cooperative studies have analysed specimens in relation to ischemic heart disease as a benefit related to diet, as well as the level of heavy metals and organochlorine in organs as a risk related to diet. High amounts of mono-unsaturated and Omega-3 poly-unsaturated fatty acid were found in adipose tissue. Liver analyses of selenium have confirmed the expected high intake among Greenlanders. Reduced atherosclerotic lesions were found in the coronary arteries. Blood pressure levels calculated from renovascholopathia of hypertension indicate prevailing levels similar to those in industrialized countries. Some factors in Greenland may be protecting the coronary arteries, thereby of setting the expected effect of hypertension. The level of methyl mercury in organs is generally high. PCB concentrations found in organs of Greenlanders are higher than among other populations. Health and risk effects of the traditional foods need further investigation.
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PMID:The Inuit diet. Fatty acids and antioxidants, their role in ischemic heart disease, and exposure to organochlorines and heavy metals. An international study. 887 82

We hypothesize that nutrition can modulate the toxicity of environmental pollutants and thus modulate health and disease outcome associated with chemical insult. There is now increasing evidence that exposure to persistent organic pollutants, such as PCBs, can contribute to the development of inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis. Activation, chronic inflammation, and dysfunction of the vascular endothelium are critical events in the initiation and acceleration of atherosclerotic lesion formation. Our studies indicate that an increase in cellular oxidative stress and an imbalance in antioxidant status are critical events in PCB-mediated induction of inflammatory genes and endothelial cell dysfunction. Furthermore, we have found that specific dietary fats can further compromise endothelial dysfunction induced by selected PCBs and that antioxidant nutrients (such as vitamin E and dietary flavonoids) can protect against endothelial cell damage mediated by these persistent organic pollutants. Our recent data suggest that membrane lipid rafts such as caveolae may play a major role in the regulation of PCB-induced inflammatory signaling in endothelial cells. In addition, PCB- and lipid-induced inflammation can be down-regulated by ligands of anti-atherogenic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs). We hypothesize that PCBs contribute to an endothelial inflammatory response in part by down-regulating PPAR signaling. Our data so far support our hypothesis that antioxidant nutrients and related bioactive compounds common in fruits and vegetables protect against environmental toxic insult to the vascular endothelium by down-regulation of signaling pathways involved in inflammatory responses and atherosclerosis. Even though the concept that nutrition may modify or ameliorate the toxicity of environmental chemicals is provocative and warrants further study, the implications for human health could be significant. More research is needed to understand observed interactions of PCB toxicity with nutritional interventions.
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PMID:Modification of environmental toxicity by nutrients: implications in atherosclerosis. 1604 91