Eggs found to be beneficial in Mexican pediatric population

Nutrition Research Newsletter, Nov, 2004

The pathology of coronary artery disease (CAD) is multifacturial, comprising both nonmodifiable and modifiable risk factors. Dyslipidemias have a significant contribution to the incidence of CAD. The primary treatment for modifying these risk factors should be lifestyle changes, including changing dietary habits, increasing aerobic exercise, and maintaining body weight. Current recommendations also include decreasing saturated fat and cholesterol intake and increasing complex carbohydrates and dietary fiber. However, much controversy is surrounding dietary cholesterol and disease prevention. There appears to be a very individualized response to cholesterol intake.

Northern Mexico has a higher prevalence of CAD, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes. It is unclear whether the biomarkers for chronic disease can be identified at childhood or whether lifestyle choices over time play a significant role in the prevalence of chronic disease in adulthood. In previous studies men and premenopausal women exhibited two distinct reactions to dietary cholesterol. It is important to determine whether these differences also exist during childhood.

The purpose of a recent investigation was to evaluate the effects of dietary cholesterol (via egg yolks) on plasma lipids and LDL atherogenicity in a pediatric population (children aged 8-12 years) from a region in Mexico where significant dyslipidemias have been identified in the adult population.

Fifty-four subjects (25 boys and 29 girls) completed the study. The subjects were randomly allocated to an egg (EGG) or a substitute (SUB)-based diet for 30 days with a washout period of 3 weeks followed by allocation to the alternate diet. Children consumed either the equivalent of 110 g or 2 whole eggs (518 additional mg dietary cholesterol) or the equivalent amount of egg whites daily. Children were asked to follow their usual diet during both dietary periods and also wore pedometers to measure daily activity. Lipids and Ape protein levels were measured at baseline and at the end of each diet treatment and washout period. LDL particles were measured for diameter and subclass distribution.

The subjects were classified as hyporesponders (no increase or [less than or equal to] 0.05 mmol/L increase in plasma cholesterol for 100 mg additional cholesterol) or hyperresponders ([greater than or equal to] 0.06 mmol/L increase). During the EGG period, the hyperresponders (n = 18) had an elevation in both LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol with no changes in LDL: HDL ratio. In contrast, hyporesponders (n = 36) had no significant changes in plasma LDL or HDL cholesterol. All subjects had an increase in LDL peak diameter during the EGG period (P <0.01) and a decrease (P <0.01) in the smaller LDL subfractions. Additionally, five of the children having LDL phenotype B (15%) shifted from this high-risk pattern to pattern A after the EGG treatment.

The results indicate that consumption of two eggs per day result in the maintenance of LDL: HDL ratio and in the generation of a less atherogenic LDL in this population of Mexican children.

M. Ballesteros, R. Cabrera, M. del Socorro Saucedo, et al. Deitary cholesterol does not increase biomarkers for chronic disease in a pediatric population from northern Mexico. Am J Clin Nutr; 80:855-861 (October, 2004). [Correspondence: ML Fernandez, University of Connecticut, Department of Nutritional Sciences, 3624 Horsebarn Road Extension, U 4017, Storrs, CT 06269. E-mail: maria-luz.fernandez@uconn.edu].