1 3 Eur J Nutr DOI 10.1007/s00394-015-0868-3 ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION Virgin olive oil rich in phenolic compounds modulates the expression of atherosclerosis-related genes in vascular endothelium Eliana R. Meza-Miranda · Oriol A. Rangel-Zúñiga · Carmen Marín · Pablo Pérez-Martínez · Javier Delgado-Lista · Carmen Haro · Patricia Peña-Orihuela · Ana I. Jiménez-Morales · María M. Malagón · Francisco J. Tinahones · José López-Miranda · Francisco Pérez-Jiménez · Antonio Camargo Received: 6 October 2014 / Accepted: 25 February 2015 © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 prepared with VOO with a high or low content of phenolic compounds. Results Treatment of HUVEC with serum obtained 2 h after the intake of the high-phenol VOO-based breakfast decreased p65 and MCP-1 gene expression (p < 0.001 and p = 0.002, respectively) and increased MT-CYB, SDHA and SOD1 gene expression (p = 0.004, p = 0.012 and p = 0.001, respectively), as compared with the treatment of HUVEC with the serum obtained 2 h after the intake of the low-phenol VOO-based breakfast. The treatment with serum obtained 4 h after the intake of the high-phe- nol VOO-based breakfast decreased MCP-1 and CAT gene expression (p < 0.001 and p = 0.003, respectively) and increased MT-CYB gene expression (p < 0.001), as com- pared to the treatment with serum obtained 4 h after the intake of the low-phenol VOO-based breakfast. Conclusion Our results suggest that the consumption of virgin olive oil rich in phenolic compounds may reduce the risk of atherosclerosis development by decreasing inflam- mation and improving the antioxidant profile in the vascu- lar endothelium. Keywords Phenolic compounds · Virgin olive oil · Vascular endothelium · Gene expression · HUVEC Introduction Metabolic syndrome is a disorder associated with a high risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and characterized by hypertriglyceridemia, low HDL cholesterol levels, insulin resistance, abdominal obesity and hypertension [1, 2]. Atherosclerosis, the pathogenic substrate for CVD in patients with metabolic syndrome, is an inflammatory dis- ease closely related to endothelial dysfunction (ED) [2], Abstract Purpose Previous studies have shown the anti-inflam- matory and antioxidant properties of phenolic compounds of virgin olive oil (VOO). However, the effect of bioavail- able phenolic compounds on the vascular endothelium is unknown. We aimed to evaluate the effect of the consump- tion of virgin olive oil rich in phenolic compounds on the vascular endothelium. Methods We treated HUVEC with human serum obtained in fasting state and after the intake of a breakfast Francisco Pérez-Jiménez and Antonio Camargo have contributed equally to this article. E. R. Meza-Miranda · O. A. Rangel-Zúñiga · C. Marín · P. Pérez-Martínez · J. Delgado-Lista · C. Haro · P. Peña-Orihuela · A. I. Jiménez-Morales · J. López-Miranda · F. Pérez-Jiménez · A. Camargo (*) Lipids and Atherosclerosis Unit, IMIBIC/Reina Sofia University Hospital/University of Cordoba, Av. Menendez Pidal, s/n., 14004 Cordoba, Spain e-mail: antonio.camargo@imibic.org E. R. Meza-Miranda · O. A. Rangel-Zúñiga · C. Marín · P. Pérez-Martínez · J. Delgado-Lista · C. Haro · P. Peña-Orihuela · A. I. Jiménez-Morales · M. M. Malagón · F. J. Tinahones · J. López-Miranda · F. Pérez-Jiménez · A. Camargo CIBER Fisiopatologia de la Obesidad y Nutricion (CIBEROBN), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain M. M. Malagón Department of Cell Biology, Physiology, and Immunology, IMIBIC/Reina Sofia University Hospital/University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain F. J. Tinahones Endocrinology and Nutrition Service, Hospital Virgen de la Victoria, Malaga, Spain