Relationship between olive oil consumption and ankle-brachial pressure index in a population at high cardiovascular risk

[Background and aims]: The aim of this study was to ascertain the association between the consumption of different categories of edible olive oils (virgin olive oils and olive oil) and olive pomace oil and ankle-brachial pressure index (ABI) in participants in the PREDIMED-Plus study, a trial of lifestyle modification for weight and cardiovascular event reduction in individuals with overweight/obesity harboring the metabolic syndrome.
[Methods]: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of the PREDIMED-Plus trial. Consumption of any category of olive oil and olive pomace oil was assessed through a validated food-frequency questionnaire. Multivariable linear regression models were fitted to assess associations between olive oil consumption and ABI. Additionally, ABI ≤1 was considered as the outcome in logistic models with different categories of olive oil and olive pomace oil as exposure.
[Results]: Among 4330 participants, the highest quintile of total olive oil consumption (sum of all categories of olive oil and olive pomace oil) was associated with higher mean values of ABI (beta coefficient: 0.014, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.002, 0.027) (p for trend = 0.010). Logistic models comparing the consumption of different categories of olive oils, olive pomace oil and ABI ≤1 values revealed an inverse association between virgin olive oils consumption and the likelihood of a low ABI (odds ratio [OR] 0.73, 95% CI [0.56, 0.97]), while consumption of olive pomace oil was positively associated with a low ABI (OR 1.22 95% CI [1.00, 1.48]).
[Conclusions]: In a Mediterranean population at high cardiovascular risk, total olive oil consumption was associated with a higher mean ABI. These results suggest that olive oil consumption may be beneficial for peripheral artery disease prevention, but longitudinal studies are needed.
The authors especially thank the PREDIMED-Plus participants for their enthusiastic collaboration, the PREDIMED-Plus personnel for outstanding support, and the personnel of all associated primary care centres for their exceptional effort. CIBEROBN, CIBERESP and CIBERDEM are initiatives of Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain.