LB012 - TUMBO SEED OIL ATTENUATES CARDIOMETABOLIC ALTERATIONS IN GUINEA PIGS WITH DIET-INDUCED HYPERLIPIDEMIA

LB012

TUMBO SEED OIL ATTENUATES CARDIOMETABOLIC ALTERATIONS IN GUINEA PIGS WITH DIET-INDUCED HYPERLIPIDEMIA

L. C. Lopez Arisaca^1,*, C. Vilchez-Perales¹

¹Nutricion, Universidad Nacional Agraria la Molina, Lima, Peru

Rationale: Tumbo (Passiflora tripartita var. mollissima) seed oil is rich in unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants, but its cardiometabolic effects in diet-induced hyperlipidemia remain unclear. This study evaluated serum lipids, hepatic markers, and aortic inflammatory/endothelial genes in guinea pigs.

Methods: Oil was expeller-pressed and characterized for quality indices, fatty acids, antioxidants, phenolics and flavonoids. Guinea pigs were assigned to control, high-fat diet (HFD), HFD plus olive oil and HFD plus tumbo seed oil (HFD-TU). Serum lipids, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were measured; aortic endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) expression were quantified by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn’s tests were applied.

Results: Tumbo seed oil showed low acidity (0.28 mg KOH/100 g), low peroxide value (2 meq O₂/kg), high iodine value (135 g I₂/100 g), linoleic acid (75.96%), antioxidant capacity of 132.6–236.2 µmol Trolox equivalents/100 g, phenolics (341.9 mg GAE/100 g), flavonoids (307.6 mg QE/100 g). HFD increased total cholesterol, triglycerides, very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol versus control (all p<0.0001). Compared with HFD, HFD-TU reduced these markers (p=0.0197, p=0.0173, p=0.0173, respectively) and increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p<0.0001). HFD increased aminotransferases versus control (ALT p=0.0099; AST p=0.0017); HFD-TU showed lower values without statistical significance. HFD-TU increased aortic eNOS expression versus HFD (p=0.044). TNF-α was higher in HFD than control (p=0.0263) and numerically lower after HFD-TU.

Conclusion: Tumbo seed oil improved serum lipid profile and increased aortic eNOS expression in diet-induced hyperlipidemia, supporting further clinical investigation as a potential nutritional strategy for cardiometabolic risk reduction.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared