Effects of Short-Term Consumption of Bread Obtained by an Old Italian Grain Variety on Lipid, Inflammatory, and Hemorheological Variables: An Intervention Study

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of short-term dietary intake of bread obtained by a selected variety of old grain grown in Tuscany, Italy on some parameters related to the atherosclerotic process. Twenty healthy subjects (median age, 39.5 years) followed for 10 weeks a diet containing bread (150 g/day) made from the test grain (test period) and for the same period a diet containing commercially available bread of the same quantity (control period). Lipid, inflammatory, and hemorheological profiles before and after dietary intervention were evaluated. The test period showed a significant (P < .05) improvement of total cholesterol (pre-intervention, 211.2 +/- 10.8 mg/dL; post-intervention, 196.5 +/- 9.8 mg/dL) and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels (pre-intervention, 137.5 +/- 8.1 mg/dL; post-intervention, 119.5 +/- 7.5 mg/dL), whereas no significant changes during the control period were observed. With regard to inflammatory and hemorheological parameters, the test period showed a significant decrease in some of the parameters investigated (interleukin-8 [pre-intervention vs. post-intervention, 67.4 +/- 10.7 vs. 43.9 +/- 4.1 pg/mL], whole blood viscosity at high [4.36 +/- 0.03 vs. 4.32 +/- 0.03 mPa x s, respectively] and low [26.1 +/- 0.4 vs. 24.8 +/- 0.5 mPa x s, respectively] shear rates, and erythrocyte filtration [8.4 +/- 0.7% vs. 9.1 +/- 0.6%, respectively]) relative to the control period, which showed no significant changes. Short-term dietary intake of whole grain bread obtained from an old grain variety seems to impose a favorable status with regard to lower circulating levels of markers of atherosclerosis.