ECE2021 Audio Eposter Presentations Diabetes, Obesity, Metabolism and Nutrition (223 abstracts)
1Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, First Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, Thessaloniki, Greece; 2AHEPA Hospital, Department of Dietetics and Nutrition, Thessaloniki, Greece; 3University of Ioannina, Medical Statistics, Epirus Science and Technology Park Campus, Ioannina, Greece; 4Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Laboratory of Biological Chemistry, Medical School, Thessaloniki, Greece; 5Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, Thessaloniki, Greece; 6Saint Lukes Hospital, Department of Endocrinology, Thessaloniki, Greece
Background
Orthodox religious fasting (OF) is a variation of the classical Mediterranean Diet during which meat and other animal products are restricted, whereas fish are occasionally and sea food are always allowed. The aim of this prospective study was to assess sex-specific differences in changes of lipid concentrations in a cohort of metabolically healthy adults following OF and investigate a potential role of vitamin D status in mediating these variations.
Methods
45 individuals (24 females, 53.3%) with mean age 48.3 ± 9.1 years and mean Body Mass Index 28.7 ± 5.8 kg/m2 were followed for 12 weeks. Anthropometrical, dietary and biochemical data (serum lipids and vitamin D concentrations) were collected at baseline, 7 weeks after the implementation of OF and 5 weeks after participants returned to their standard eating habits (12 weeks from baseline). According to 25-hydroxy-vitamin D [25(OH)D] measurements, fasters were classified into two groups: those with concentrations above and below the median of values.
Results
Female participants with 25(OH)D concentrations below the median demonstrated a non-significant reduction by 15% in total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol during the fasting period, followed by a significant increase (170.74 vs. 197.50 and 99.63 vs. 121.06 mg/dl respectively, P < 0.001) 5 weeks after OF cessation. On the other hand, male participants with 25(OH)D levels below the median manifested an inverse, non-significant trend of increase in serum lipids during the entire study period.
Conclusions
Our findings indicate sex-specific variation in lipid concentrations following a low-fat dietary pattern, modulated by vitamin D status. Further studies are required in order to unravel the underlying mechanisms and evaluate the association of these inter-gender differences with cardiovascular risk and benefit of vitamin D supplementation.