Interesting article that shows that hydrogenated fat increases production of 
inflammatory cytokines are increasingly associated with heart disease.

J Lipid Res 2002 Mar;43(3):445-52   Related Articles,  Links 
  
Effect of hydrogenated and saturated, relative to polyunsaturated, fat on 
immune and inflammatory responses of adults with moderate 
hypercholesterolemia.

Han SN, Leka LS, Lichtenstein AH, Ausman LM, Schaefer EJ, Meydani SN.

Nutritional Immunology Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research 
Center on Aging at Tufts University, 711 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111, 
USA.

Consumption of diets high in hydrogenated fat/trans fatty acids has been 
shown to have an adverse affect on lipoprotein profiles with respect to 
cardiovascular disease risk. Dietary fat and cholesterol play an important 
role in the regulation of immune and inflammatory responses shown to be 
involved in atherogenesis. We investigated the effects of diets containing 
hydrogenated fat on cellular immune response and production of inflammatory 
cytokines in human subjects with moderately elevated cholesterol levels (LDL 
cholesterol >130 mg/dl). In a double blind cross-over study, 19 subjects 
consumed three diets, 30% of calories as fat, of which two thirds were 
provided as soybean oil, soybean oil-based stick margarine, or butter for 32 
days, each in a randomized order. Production of proinflammatory mediators, 
prostaglandin (PG)E(2), interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, and tumor necrosis 
factor alpha (TNF-alpha); delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) response, in 
vitro lymphocyte proliferation, and production of IL-2 were determined. 
Production of IL-6 and TNF-alpha was significantly higher after consumption 
of stick margarine diet compared with soybean oil diet. IL-1beta and 
TNF-alpha production correlated positively with ratios of total cholesterol 
to HDL cholesterol (r = 0.499, P < 0.001 and r = 0.291, P = 0.04, 
respectively). There was no significant difference in DTH response, 
lymphocyte proliferation, or levels of IL-2 and PGE(2) produced among three 
groups. Our results indicate that consumption of a diet high in hydrogenated 
fat does not adversely affect cellular immunity but increases production of 
inflammatory cytokines that have been associated with the pathophysiology of 
atherosclerosis.



Namaste, Liz
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