Medium-chain triglycerides improve atherosclerosis symptoms by promoting the reverse cholesterol transport process

A team of researchers at the Chinese PLA General Hospital in Beijing, China looked at whether medium-chain triglycerides could improve atherosclerosis. The research team published their findings in the journal Nutrition Research.

• The team previously observed that medium-chain triglycerides can reduce body fat mass and improve the metabolism of cholesterol.
• Therefore, they hypothesized that medium-chain triglycerides could attenuate atherosclerosis by promoting the reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) process.
• To test this, they randomly fed mice with a diet containing two percent medium-chain triglycerides or long-chain triglycerides for 16 weeks.
• They assessed the roles of medium-chain triglycerides in macrophage RCT and the progression of atherosclerosis.
• Results showed that the mice that received medium-chain triglycerides experienced greater reductions in body fat mass and atherosclerotic plaques, as well as an improvement in serum lipid profiles than the long-chain triglyceride group.
• Moreover, the researchers found that medium-chain triglyceride could promote macrophage RCT and improve atherosclerosis.

In conclusion, these results suggested that medium-chain triglycerides have the potential to protect against cardiovascular disease.

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Journal Reference:

Zhang X, Zhang Y, Liu Y, Wang J, Xu Q, Yu X, Yang X, Liu Z, Xue C. MEDIUM-CHAIN TRIGLYCERIDES PROMOTE MACROPHAGE REVERSE CHOLESTEROL TRANSPORT AND IMPROVE ATHEROSCLEROSIS IN APOE-DEFICIENT MICE FED A HIGH-FAT DIET. Nutrition Research. September 2016; 36(9): 964-973. DOI: 10.1016/j.nutres.2016.06.004