Background: Lipoprotein (a) (Lp[a]) is a known risk factor for coronary heart disease. Lp(a) plasma concentration mainly depends on genetic polymorphism. The aim of this study was evaluate the effect of dietary fat saturation on Lp(a) plasma concentration.
Subjects and methods: Forty two subjects (eighteen women and twenty four men) were placed in four consecutive 5 weeks diet periods. Energy intake from proteins, carbohydrates and fats was constant during the study and there were only changes on fatty acids composition. First period was enriched in saturated fatty acids (SFA), second period in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and third and fourth periods were enriched in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Fourth period was also enriched in PUFA n-3 (blue fish).
Results: Changes on dietary fat saturation had a significant effect on plasma lipids and lipoproteins. Lp(a) plasma concentration was minimum in SFA phase (6.8 [SD 7.3] mg/dl), increasing during MUFA phase (8.7 [8.5] mg/dl) and was maximum in PUFA n-6 and PUFA n-3 (11.5 [11.1] and 12.7 [11.9] mg/dl, respectively) (p < 0.0001).
Conclusions: Changes on dietary fat saturation significantly modify Lp(a) plasma concentration. These variations went in opposite direction to LDL-cholesterol modifications and were clinically irrelevant.