Evaluation of HDL cholesterol efflux capacity (CEC) after consumption of an innovative pasta enriched with bioactive components and functional probiotics

Background. Epidemiological evidence indicate that high intake of whole grain is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease. This study aimed to investigate the effect of consumption of a new functional whole grain on serum HDL-CEC, a metric of HDL functionality to promote reverse cholesterol transport, which has recently emerged as a new marker for cardiovascular risk evaluation. Material and methods. 40 healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to two treatments such as experimental pasta made with whole-wheat flour enriched in β-glucan from barley and spores of B.coagulans GBI-30 and control pasta produced with the same technological process and with the same, but not integral, variety of wheat as the functional one. CEC measurement was performed ex vivo on whole plasma collected from subjects before and after three months of treatment. Individual cholesterol efflux pathways were evaluated by using specific, widely accepted cell-based radio assays. Results. In our study, despite no change in HDL concentration, we did observe an improvement in ABCG1 CEC after treatment with the innovative pasta. Additionally, in treated subjects, but not in subjects treated with control pasta, ABCG1-mediated CEC inversely correlates with homocysteinemia, an independent risk factor for coronary disease, while a direct significant relation was found with plasmatic folic acid, which is considered a protective factor for cardiovascular disease. Conclusions. Since HDL-CEC has been suggested as a new biomarker in CVD, our study is relevant to prove that treatment with a functional food modulates HDL functionality. Correlations between plasmatic indices of cardiovascular disease and CEC provide new insight on its role as a biomarker. It can be speculated that consumption of bioactive components within the innovative pasta act simultaneously on the amelioration of subjects inflammatory profile and on HDL functional quality thus “linking” ABCG1 CEC to the levels of such metabolic markers.