Human in vivo nutrigenomic effect of olive oil

Olive oil is protective against risk factors for cardiovascular and cancer diseases. A nutrigenomic approach was performed to assess whether olive oil, the main fat of the Mediterranean diet modifies the gene expression in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Six healthy male volunteers ingested, at fasting state, 50 ml of olive oil, and continued with the same olive oil as a source of raw fat (25ml/day) during 3 weeks. Prior to intervention a 1-week washout period with sunflower oil as the only source of fat was followed. During the 3 days before, and on the intervention day, a very low phenolic compound diet was followed. At baseline (0h), at post ingestion (6h), and at fasting state after 3 weeks of sustained consumption of olive oil total RNA was isolated from PBMC. Gene expression was evaluated by microarray and verified by qRT-PCR. Keywords: Olive oil, gene expression, single dose, sustained consumption Three pools of total RNA were prepared in triplicates (9 samples in total). Each pool refers to different time point of the study (0h-wash out, 6h postprandial and 3 weeks intervention). Pool at 0h serves as reference sample.