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The occurrence of menopause is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events, and this has partly been attributed to the decline in circulating levels of estrogen. A lignan complex rich in the plant lignan secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG) was isolated from flaxseed. SDG is metabolized by the colonic microflora to the mammalian lignans enterodiol and enterolactone and is hypothesized to be cardioprotective due to their structural similarity to estrogen. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a lignan complex, providing 500 mg/d of SDG, on markers of endothelial function. Healthy postmenopausal women (n = 22) completed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. Women consumed daily a low-fat muffin, with or without a lignan complex, for 6 wk, separated by a 6-wk washout period. Flow-mediated, endothelium-dependent vasodilatation (FMD) and nitroglycerine-mediated, endothelium-independent vasodilatation were measured at the end of each intervention period. The sum of Plasma nitrite and nitrate (NOx), endothelin-1 (ET-1), and asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) were measured at the beginning and end of each intervention period. FMD was 3.6 [+ or -] 0.9% (mean [+ or -] SEM) after the lignan complex intervention period compared with 3.9 [+ or -] 0.7% after the placebo period (P = 0.72). Plasma concentrations of NOx, ET-1, and ADMA were not affected. We conclude that daily consumption for 6 wk of a low-fat muffin enriched with a lignan complex had no effect on endothelial function in healthy postmenopausal women.

The objective of this study was to examine the effect on blood pressure (BP) and isobaric arterial elasticity (AE), as a measure of arterial health, of a commercial mixture of conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) and of milk fat produced through livestock feeding to have a high content of vaccenic acid (VA). Healthy young men (n = 60) with a BMI of 22.5 [+ or -] 2 kg/[m.sup.2] (mean [+ or -] SD) participated in this double-blind, randomized, 5-wk, parallel intervention study. The participants substituted 115 g of their daily fat intake with fat from 1 of 3 test diets: 1) CLA-diet rich in CLA (4.7 g/d of c9, t11- and t10, c12-CLA isomers in equal amounts); 2) VA-diet rich in VA (3.6 g/d); or 3) C-diet, a control diet with a low content of VA and CLA. All test diets were based on milk fat. BP and AE (measured by an oscillometric method) were measured before and after the intervention period. The effects of the test diets did not differ on any outcome variable: e.g., systolic- and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP), pulse pressure (PP), isobaric arterial compliance (AC), distensibility (AD), or volume (AV). In conclusion, diets rich in milk fat and either CLA or VA have no effect on BP or AE indices in healthy young men compared with a control diet. KEY WORDS: * conjugated linoleic acids * vaccenic acid * milk trans fatty acids * arterial health * blood pressure