Trans fats hinder multiple steps in blood flow regulatio...(se effects are less obvious many researc...)
se effects are less obvious, many researchers have missed the underlying pathologies that result from a diet that includes trans fats, he said.
Trans fats displace and cannot replace the essential fatty acids linoleic acid (omega-6) and linolenic acid (omega-3), which the body needs for a variety of functions, including blood flow regulation. Studies have shown that trans fats also increase low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) in the blood, a factor which some believe contributes to heart disease.
Trans fats are associated with increased inflammation in the arteries. And trans fats have been found to change the composition of cell membranes, making them more leaky to calcium. Inflammation, high LDL cholesterol and calcified arteries are the signature ingredients of atherosclerosis.
Trans fats also were shown to interfere with an enzyme that converts the essential fatty acid linoleic acid into arachidonic acid, which is needed for the production of prostacyclin (a blood-flow enhancer) and thromboxane (which regulates the formation of blood clots needed for wound healing). While some in the food oil industry believed this problem could be overcome simply by adding more linoleic acid to partially hydrogenated fats, in 2007 Kummerow's team reported that extra linoleic acid did not overcome the problem.
"Trans fats inhibited the synthesis of arachidonic acid from linoleic acid, even when there was plenty of linoleic acid available," he said.
The new study reports that in addition to interfering with the production of arachidonic acid from linoleic acid, trans fats also reduce the amount of prostacyclin needed to keep blood flowing. Thus blood clots may more easily develop, and sudden death is possible.
According to the American Heart Association, each year more than 330,000 people in the U.S. die from coronary heart disease before reaching a hospital or while in an emergency room. Most of those deaths are the result of
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| Contact: Diana Yates diya@illinois.edu 217-333-5802 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Source:Eurekalert |
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