THE EFFECTS OF PROCESSED TOMATOES ON ENDOTHELIUM AND PLATELET FUNCTION

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The goals of this study are: (1) to compare the effect of high vs. low intake of processed tomatoes for 6 weeks on biomarkers of endothelium and platelet function;(2) to determine if the effects of a high fat meal known to induce platelet aggregation and reduce vaso-reactivity in humans are influenced by the background intake of processed tomato consumption or if concurrent processed tomato consumption is necessary to attenuate the described affects of the standard high fat meal;(3) to investigate the effects of high vs low consumption of processed tomatoes on plasma lipid composition, oxidative stress, blood pressure and inflammatory status in humans;(4) to determine if the antioxidants in the processed tomatoes will increase the human paraoxonase activity and concentration. The investigators hypothesize that: (1) consuming processed tomatoes frequently/daily will favorably improve endothelium and platelet function disease-risk biomarker profiles in adult men and women compared to consuming no or relatively low amounts of processed tomatoes;(2) consuming processed tomatoes frequently/daily to produce a stable background intake of processed tomatoes compared to no/ low background intake of processed tomatoes will be required to attenuate vaso-constrictive and platelet aggregatory effects of a standard high fat meal. Consuming a background diet low in processed tomatoes will require a single serving of processed tomatoes to be eaten concurrently to attenuate the vaso-constrictive and platelet aggregatory effects of the meal;(3) consuming processed tomatoes frequently/daily will improve blood pressure, the plasma lipid profile, oxidative stress and inflammatory status.