Pizza and Vegetables Don’t Stick to the Endothelium

To the Editor:Blanco-Colio et l1 showed that a fat-enriched breakfast increased the activation of the transcription factor nuclear factor-κB in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of normal subjects, an effect prevented by antioxidants present in red wine. We compared the effects of a high-fat meal and a high-carbohydrate meal (pizza), with or without dietary antioxidants, on the levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and vascular adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) in normal subjects. The genes of adhesion molecules are regulated by nuclear factor-κB,2 and circulating adhesion molecules are considered a molecular marker of early atherosclerosis.3We studied 25 healthy non-obese volunteers (13 men and 12 women) aged 27±5.3 years (mean±SD). Subjects ate the following meals in random order and separated by a 1-week interval: (1) a high-fat meal (760 kcal; 50 g of fat, 20.4 g of saturated fat, 58 g of carbohydrates); (2) an isoenergetic high-carbohydrate (pizza) meal (758 kcal; 17 g of fat, 2.2 g …