H: Health, Nutrition, & Food JFS H: Health, Nutrition, and Food Peanuts, Peanut Oil, and Fat Free Peanut Flour Reduced Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors and the Development of Atherosclerosis in Syrian Golden Hamsters AMANDA M. STEPHENS,LISA L. DEAN,JACK P. DAVIS,JASON A. OSBORNE, AND TIMOTHY H. SANDERS ABSTRACT: Human clinical trials have demonstrated the cardiovascular protective properties of peanuts and peanut oil in decreasing total and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) without reducing high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). The cardiovascular effects of the nonlipid portion of peanuts has not been evalu- ated even though that fraction contains arginine, flavonoids, folates, and other compounds that have been linked to cardiovascular health. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of fat free peanut flour (FFPF), peanuts, and peanut oil on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and the development of atherosclerosis in male Syrian golden hamsters. Each experimental diet group was fed a high fat, high cholesterol diet with various peanut com- ponents (FFPF, peanut oil, or peanuts) substituted for similar metabolic components in the control diet. Tissues were collected at week 0, 12, 18, and 24. Total plasma cholesterol (TPC), LDL-C, and HDL-C distributions were deter- mined by high-performance gel filtration chromatography, while aortic total cholesterol (TC) and cholesteryl ester (CE) were determined by gas liquid chromatography. Peanuts, peanut oil, and FFPF diet groups had significantly (P < 0.05) lower TPC, non-HDL-C than the control group beginning at about 12 wk and continuing through the 24-wk study. HDL-C was not significantly different among the diet groups. Peanut and peanut component diets re- tarded an increase in TC and CE. Because CE is an indicator of the development of atherosclerosis this study demon- strated that peanuts, peanut oil, and FFPF retarded the development of atherosclerosis in animals consuming an atherosclerosis inducing diet. Keywords: atherosclerosis, cholesterol, hamsters, peanut flour, peanuts Introduction P eanuts (Arachis hypogaea) are legumes but are generally con- sidered as nuts. The weight of peanuts consumed per year in the United States is greater than all other nuts combined (Putnam and Allshouse 1999). Peanuts have a desirable fatty acid profile and are rich in vitamins, minerals and bioactive materials. They con- tain several known heart healthy nutrients including monounsat- urated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, potassium, magnesium, copper niacin, arginine, fiber, α-tocopherol, folates, phytosterols, and flavonoids. Peanut consumption has been associated with im- proved overall diet quality and nutrient profile (Kris-Etherton and others 1999b; Kerckhoffs and others 2002; Griel and others 2004). The American Heart Assoc. (AHA) has indicated that cardiovas- cular disease (CVD) remains as the number one cause of death of Americans (Lloyd-Jones and others 2008). Peanuts and peanut oil have been demonstrated to reduce CVD risk and/or risk factors in epidemiological and clinical studies (Fraser and others 1992; Hu and others 1998; Kris-Etherton and others 1999a; Alper and Mat- tes 2003). However, published literature on the effect of the peanut MS 20090951 Submitted 9/25/2009, Accepted 1/25/2010. Author Stephens is with Dept. of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, author Osborne is with Dept. of Statistics, and authors Dean, Davis, and Sanders are with USDA, ARS, Market Quality and Handling Research Unit, North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC 27695, U.S.A. Direct inquiries to author Sanders (E-mail: tim.sanders@ars.usda.gov). nonlipid component (fat free peanut flour [FFPF]) on CVD risk fac- tors is lacking as is literature on the effects of peanuts and peanut oil on atherosclerosis. The development of atherosclerosis is the result of changes in arterial walls. Cholesteryl ester (CE) concentration is a strong indi- cator of the development of atherosclerosis because it is one of the first metabolic compounds to occur at the intima in diseased arter- ies (St. Clair and others 1970). The CE concentration can increase as much as seventy times in atherosclerotic arteries compared to healthy arteries (St. Clair and others 1970; Day and Proudlock 1974). Metabolic changes that occur during the early stages of atheroscle- rosis development also include an increase in phospholipids and triacylglycerols; however, increases in those components are much lower in magnitude than CE (Brecher and Chobania 1974). Addi- tionally, CE concentrations have been noted to decrease when a re- duction in atherosclerotic plaque occurs (St. Clair and others 1972). The major plasma cholesterol carrier in hamsters, fed a diet enriched with cholesterol and saturated fat for a prolonged pe- riod, changes to low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) which is the major plasma cholesterol carrier in humans. Hamsters also closely resemble humans with respect to rates of hepatic cholesterol synthesis (Andersen and Cook 1986) and are thus re- sponsive to high saturated fat, high cholesterol diets (Nistor and others 1987; Spady and Dietschy 1988). Hamsters, as all ani- mal models, have some limitations but overall they are a good model for studying the effects of various diets on blood chemistry H116 JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE—Vol. 75, Nr. 4, 2010 C  2010 Institute of Food Technologists R  doi: 10.1111/j.1750-3841.2010.01569.x Further reproduction without permission is prohibited