Daily Hazelnut Intake Exerts Multiple Reversible Effects on Plasma Profile of Healthy Subjects

Abstract

Life sciences such as medical, nutritional, and those related to agrarian biotechnologies are experiencing a constant increase. Therefore, food consumption is today related to health state. Aiming to create an innovative spinneret system that defines the tight correlation between high nutritional and nutraceutical value of foods and their beneficial effects on consumer’s health state, we tested the effects related to the administration of 40 g of the Tonda Gentile Romana Italian hazelnut cultivar (Viterbo, Italy). To this end, we enrolled 24 subjects for a period of 14 weeks, based on a crossover design. Although sev eral papers and reviews on hazelnut intake benefits are available, few studies have investigated the effects of hazelnut-enriched diet on plasma key parameters commonly used to ascertain the individual ’ s well-being status. The primary endpoint of the trial was to assess LDL change related to hazelnut administration, which resulted in significant beneficial effects on cholesterol parameters (LDL dropped from 133.09 mg/dl to 119.18 mg/dl). Interestingly, despite within the normal ranges, uric acid and serum creatinine mean values significantly decreased after hazelnut intake. A significant increment was also observed for ALT (from 30 . 9 U/L to 35 . 22 U/L, P = 0 . 01), while GGT significantly decreased from 38 . 04 mg/dl at T0 to 35 . 27 mg/dl at T1 (P = 0.001) . No significant changes were also observed in azotemia, serum iron, glycemia, AST, total bilirubin, Hb, WBCs, RBCs, platelet count, and total plasma proteins. All the blood parameters analyzed appeared to be reversible after 6 weeks from the end of the treatment. Mann-Whitney U test did not show any significant differences in T0 - T1 Δ% LDL considering gender, age and baseline LDL. These findings may be of help in the development of strategies for personalized nutrition and diseases management.